Posted on Oct 29, 2016
Guard, Pentagon Cannot Say How Many US Soldiers Must Repay Bonuses
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The National Guard and Pentagon on Friday still could not say how many soldiers in the United States might have their wartime re-enlistment bonuses reclaimed, despite stating days ago that cases outside of California only number "in the dozens."
A Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department had not finished compiling the figures from all states and territories. The chief of the National Guard Bureau, which promised Wednesday to release the number of affected soldiers to Stars and Stripes, said Friday that it was still working to compile the information.
Both have said the efforts to recollect bonuses of $15,000 or more and education benefits from soldiers are mostly confined to California.
The Army National Guard caused public outrage earlier this week when reports revealed it might reclaim the re-enlistment bonuses of nearly 10,000 soldiers from California who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 100 House members wrote a letter Wednesday saying the National Guard has confirmed bonus overpayments occurred in every U.S. state and called for legislation to provide relief.
Peter Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said Wednesday the number of cases in other states are "in the dozens" but did not specify how many states.
"This is a California problem for us," he said.
The Pentagon on Friday could not immediately reconcile Levine's comment with its lack of specific numbers.
The National Guard Bureau told Stars and Stripes on Friday that it had reviewed a statistical sampling of 9,641 cases of bonus payments across the country but did not have additional statistics of how many included fraudulent or wrongly awarded bonuses or benefits.
"The issues found were administrative in nature and rapidly remedied by the state," according to Maj. Shannon Thomas, a Guard spokeswoman.
Thomas said the service needs more time to compile figures showing wrongly paid bonuses and how many soldiers face collections.
Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said Wednesday the service examined the bonuses in every state and had determined the number of incorrect payments was small.
"I can tell you they did look at every state ... they did find some contracts were dispersed erroneously. There were small numbers and I can get you those numbers," Lengyel told Stars and Stripes.
A National Guard spokeswoman said Friday it still had not compiled the figures for release.
The Pentagon on Wednesday temporarily halted the repayment of bonuses for California National Guard soldiers after outcry from veterans groups and Congress.
The bonuses and education benefits were aimed at bolstering troop numbers during the wars. Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered a review of the repayments by January and said he wants all California cases resolved by July.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCPT (Join to see)COL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell
A Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department had not finished compiling the figures from all states and territories. The chief of the National Guard Bureau, which promised Wednesday to release the number of affected soldiers to Stars and Stripes, said Friday that it was still working to compile the information.
Both have said the efforts to recollect bonuses of $15,000 or more and education benefits from soldiers are mostly confined to California.
The Army National Guard caused public outrage earlier this week when reports revealed it might reclaim the re-enlistment bonuses of nearly 10,000 soldiers from California who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 100 House members wrote a letter Wednesday saying the National Guard has confirmed bonus overpayments occurred in every U.S. state and called for legislation to provide relief.
Peter Levine, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said Wednesday the number of cases in other states are "in the dozens" but did not specify how many states.
"This is a California problem for us," he said.
The Pentagon on Friday could not immediately reconcile Levine's comment with its lack of specific numbers.
The National Guard Bureau told Stars and Stripes on Friday that it had reviewed a statistical sampling of 9,641 cases of bonus payments across the country but did not have additional statistics of how many included fraudulent or wrongly awarded bonuses or benefits.
"The issues found were administrative in nature and rapidly remedied by the state," according to Maj. Shannon Thomas, a Guard spokeswoman.
Thomas said the service needs more time to compile figures showing wrongly paid bonuses and how many soldiers face collections.
Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said Wednesday the service examined the bonuses in every state and had determined the number of incorrect payments was small.
"I can tell you they did look at every state ... they did find some contracts were dispersed erroneously. There were small numbers and I can get you those numbers," Lengyel told Stars and Stripes.
A National Guard spokeswoman said Friday it still had not compiled the figures for release.
The Pentagon on Wednesday temporarily halted the repayment of bonuses for California National Guard soldiers after outcry from veterans groups and Congress.
The bonuses and education benefits were aimed at bolstering troop numbers during the wars. Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered a review of the repayments by January and said he wants all California cases resolved by July.
@ SMSgt Minister Gerald A. Thomas Capt Christopher MuellerCPT (Join to see)COL Mikel J. BurroughsSgt Joe LaBrancheSSgt (Join to see)Capt Seid WaddellSrA Christopher Wright LTC Stephen F.PO2 Ed C. PO2 Mark Saffell MSG Tom EarleyPVT James Strait Alan K. PO1 William "Chip" NagelSGT John " Mac " McConnellSSG Leo Bell SFC William Farrell
Guard, Pentagon Cannot Say How Many US Soldiers Must Repay Bonuses
Posted from military.com
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Law
Posted >1 y ago
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That is absolute garbage. These men and women did the same thing anyone of us would have done. The Army's going to give me 15,000 for a 3 year bump? Hell yeah, I'm going to (and did) take it.
Trying to get the money after these Soldiers deployed and fulfilled their part of the deal is disgraceful and smacks of bean-counters trying to recoup money because THEY screwed up.
Don't be mad at the Soldiers for taking advantage of an opportunity all of us would have taken if it presented itself. Be mad that this is something that the people that know firsthand of the sacrifices these people made would think that this would be remotely acceptable
Trying to get the money after these Soldiers deployed and fulfilled their part of the deal is disgraceful and smacks of bean-counters trying to recoup money because THEY screwed up.
Don't be mad at the Soldiers for taking advantage of an opportunity all of us would have taken if it presented itself. Be mad that this is something that the people that know firsthand of the sacrifices these people made would think that this would be remotely acceptable
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Any soldier that was offered a bonus and accepted it in good faith and fulfilled his/her obligation should not have to pay the money back under any circumstance. If the government screwed up it is their problem - not the problem of the soldier. The soldier had no way of knowing there had been a mistake made and is not to blame for the problem.
DOD should just suck it up and move on. If anyone intentionally made unauthorized offers to soldiers to get them to re-up, then go after the ones that intentionally broke regulations and leave the innocent bystanders alone.
DOD should just suck it up and move on. If anyone intentionally made unauthorized offers to soldiers to get them to re-up, then go after the ones that intentionally broke regulations and leave the innocent bystanders alone.
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In theory, the military should no longer be pursuing these payments after the announcements that came out from the pentagon and white house. The truth, however, is that the instructions left wiggle room and it is likely that the military will still try to recoup bonuses that they feel were "improper" and the soldier should have known so. Adding to this, it doesn't seem that any effort is being made to effectively help those who paid back these debts be reimbursed.
The thing is, this is actually a very winnable situation for most soldiers if they appeal if properly, even if they already repaid the military. The problem is that like most things the responsibility will fall on the individual soldier as the military passes the buck.
The thing is, this is actually a very winnable situation for most soldiers if they appeal if properly, even if they already repaid the military. The problem is that like most things the responsibility will fall on the individual soldier as the military passes the buck.
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