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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-national-guard-bonus-20161020-snap-story.html
This is indefensible and there is no tenable argument the Pentagon can make for offering bonuses to tens of thousands of soldiers and then going back after their enlistment is done and claiming the bonuses they offered were too large and not legal. The error is entirely on the part of those offering the bonuses but the soldiers are the ones being punished in reality.
I should say I'm surprised, but I am not. My father, a WWII vet, is on a military pension. Twice in the past year they have come back to him and said they miscalculated what he was due and he owed them money. First it was $3000 he had to return in June. Then earlier this month he got a letter saying they also made an error in their recalculation and he actually owes another few hundred dollars he was overpaid. However, he cannot see the formula they use to calculate his pension, so he has no way of determining what he should be getting. In his case it's really more of a irritation and a pension - for the soldiers in some cases it is financial ruin.
Short of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000 or more to reenlist and go to war.
Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back.
Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.
Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.
This is indefensible and there is no tenable argument the Pentagon can make for offering bonuses to tens of thousands of soldiers and then going back after their enlistment is done and claiming the bonuses they offered were too large and not legal. The error is entirely on the part of those offering the bonuses but the soldiers are the ones being punished in reality.
I should say I'm surprised, but I am not. My father, a WWII vet, is on a military pension. Twice in the past year they have come back to him and said they miscalculated what he was due and he owed them money. First it was $3000 he had to return in June. Then earlier this month he got a letter saying they also made an error in their recalculation and he actually owes another few hundred dollars he was overpaid. However, he cannot see the formula they use to calculate his pension, so he has no way of determining what he should be getting. In his case it's really more of a irritation and a pension - for the soldiers in some cases it is financial ruin.