Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war

[MindWars]

Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war
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.
Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war



What a great way to screw over the Soldiers , leave it to the Gov. to screw them over in this manner. Hopefully many soldiers ban together and protest this bs. I hope they don't pay a damn dime back.

 

[Manonthestreet]

If only they were this serious about fraud in every govt program.......IRS can hand out billions in fraudulent returns all good.....welfare fraud ...all good.......

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

What a load of horse shit!!!
I got a feeling once word gets out they'll be changing their tune.

 

[aris2chat]

Thank Obama

 

[waltky]

Payback put on hold at the moment...

What Happens to Guardsmen Who Repaid Bonuses?
Oct 25, 2016 | As the Pentagon's top civilian vowed to "resolve" a policy in which Guardsmen were ordered to pay back bonuses, questions swirled about what happens to the hundreds of troops who already returned the money.

An estimated 10,500 service members, mostly from the California National Guard, received enlistment bonuses of as much as $15,000 designed to address a personnel shortage in the ranks a decade ago during the peak of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the money, which collectively totaled about $22 million, was improperly awarded and troops were ordered to pay it back or face such penalties as interest charges and tax liens, according to a story first reported by David Cloud, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times.

Now, as Pentagon officials and lawmakers consider waiving the debt, it remains unclear whether the fix will somehow accommodate the roughly 1,500 troops who either repaid the money or started the repayment process. "How do you go back and address soldiers that have paid money back when we start alleviating debts of other soldiers? That's what makes this a very complex issue," Col. Peter Cross, director of public affairs for the California National Guard, said on Tuesday during a telephone interview with Military.com. "I don't have an answer," he added. "It's going to take some very precise language and studying of the issue to make everybody whole again. Otherwise, you're going to have disparate treatment of soldiers."

California National Guard Soldiers flank Deputy Todd Viller of the San Diego County Sheriff's Office as the three monitor progress of a wildfire near Valley Center, Calif.​

Since the story broke on Saturday, lawmakers and members of the public have reacted with outrage over the Pentagon's bonus repayment policy. Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and a former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, described the move as "boneheaded" and vowed to pursue a legislative fix when Congress returns in mid-November, if necessary. But California National Guard, or CNG, officials say they warned Congress about the problem in 2014. "In fact, the CNG even drafted and provided bill language in 2014 that would helped waive these obligations," Cross said in an email. "Unfortunately no action was taken on the legislation."

The issue first surfaced several years ago after Guard officials were accused of mismanaging the bonus program. Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, who oversaw the program for the Guard, in 2011 pleaded guilty to filing $15.2 million in false claims alone, landing a 30-month federal prison sentence, NPR reported. Interestingly, she didn't appear to do so for any personal gain. Later, eight current or former members of the California National Guard were indicted on charges in 2014 of fraudulently obtaining recruiting referral bonuses, The Associated Press reported.

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[waltky]

Carter tells Pentagon to stand down on Collection of Guard Bonuses...

Carter Orders Pentagon to Suspend Collection of Guard Bonuses
Oct 26, 2016 | The U.S. defense chief has ordered the Defense Department to suspend the collection of bonuses improperly awarded to California National Guard members.

In a statement on Wednesday, Carter said he ordered the Pentagon's Defense Finance and Accounting Service "to suspend all efforts to collect reimbursement from affected California National Guard members, effective as soon as is practical. This suspension will continue until I am satisfied that our process is working effectively." The announcement came a day after President Barack Obama told the department to expedite its review of the matter. Roughly 10,500 service members, mostly from the California National Guard, improperly received bonuses of as much as $15,000 and other incentives to serve in the ranks a decade ago during the peak of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials have said.

Thousands of troops were later ordered to pay back the money or face such penalties as interest charges and tax liens, according to a story first reported by David Cloud, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times. Carter acknowledged soldiers "may have received incentive bonuses and tuition assistance improperly as a result of errors and in some cases criminal behavior by members of the California National Guard. While some soldiers knew or should have known they were ineligible for benefits they were claiming, many others did not." He added that about 2,000 Guard members "have been asked, in keeping with the law, to repay erroneous payments."

Since the story broke on Saturday, lawmakers and members of the public have reacted with outrage over the Pentagon's bonus repayment policy. Members of Congress have criticized the repayment policy as "boneheaded" and called on the department to forgive the debt. "It remains my firm belief that even the simple request of asking soldiers to repay money contingent on reenlistment is disgraceful and insulting," Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California and former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote in a letter on Monday to Carter. "In fact, I find it difficult to believe that either you or your leadership team was aware that such a boneheaded decision was made to demand repayment." Rep. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida and chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, on Wednesday blasted Carter's announcement as "a weak and ham-handed attempt to shift the focus away from the Obama administration’s shameful treatment of service members and veterans."

The Obama administration "had no problem recouping bonuses from soldiers who served honorably but has time and again let misbehaving Department of Veterans Affairs employees keep lavish cash rewards they didn’t deserve," Miller added. "Once again, it seems Congress will be forced to fix a problem that the Obama administration created but refuses to fully address on its own.”

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[waltky]

Congress gonna get to the bottom of the problem...

Lawmakers Press DoD to Fix Guard Bonus Repayment Problem
Oct 27, 2016 | U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pressed the Pentagon to find a fix for the thousands of California National Guard members forced to pay back improperly awarded bonuses.

A group of more than 100 members of Congress asked Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Chief of the National Guard Bureau Air Force Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel to work with them to address the controversy. "We urge you to make this a top priority and work with Congress to find a permanent solution to make service members whole," according to a letter co-signed by Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, and Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, and others. The lawmakers praised Carter for outlining steps to deal with the problem. But they said the plan -- which calls for speeding up the existing adjudication process and completing the work by July 1, 2017 -- doesn't relieve the burden now weighing on troops and families who received the money in error. "Those who served in the California National Guard bear no responsibility for the mistakes and misconduct that led to these payments," they wrote. "It is unfair and unacceptable to hold them accountable a decade later."

Cpl. Christopher Garland, a member of the California National Guard, receives the Army Commendation Medal for valor, and a Combat Medic Badge, at Forward Operating Base Ghazni.​

The letter continues, "Even if those bonuses and benefits offered by the Guard were unauthorized, the Army would be contractually liable for paying the bonuses to the Guard members because they signed reenlistment contracts and agreed to put their lives on the line under a belief that they would receive the bonuses and incentives offered to them for their service and sacrifice." The letter came a day after Carter ordered a temporary halt to the collection of the bonuses. The defense chief instructed the Pentagon's Defense Finance and Accounting Service "to suspend all efforts to collect reimbursement from affected California National Guard members, effective as soon as is practical. This suspension will continue until I am satisfied that our process is working effectively," he said in a statement.

Peter Levine, the Pentagon's senior personnel official, said the department won't seek legislation to create a blanket waiver for all cases. "We don’t believe we need legislation," he said. "It would set a bad precedent if we don't recoup" money from service members who abused the system to get bonuses, he said. "There are cases where we need to recoup." Regardless, a separate letter addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, among others, also advised to quickly advance legislation that provides "a permanent solution for servicemembers and veterans who received the bonuses in good faith." The letter was signed by 106 congressional members.

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[waltky]

National Guard Rescinds Estimate on Soldier Bonuses...

National Guard Rescinds Estimate on Soldier Bonus Reviews
Nov 04, 2016 | WASHINGTON – The National Guard late Thursday rescinded its estimate that about 20,000-30,000 soldiers outside of California had their re-enlistment and education bonuses flagged for review, a step that could have led to recoupment of money in some cases.

The initial rough estimate was given to Stars and Stripes by a National Guard Bureau spokesman who was reviewing nationwide data on the wartime bonuses, which have come under scrutiny after thousands of California soldiers face repayment. The estimate was made using incomplete data from state National Guard bureaus and did not indicate how many cases actually led to recoupment efforts, only cases flagged for further review, Lt. Col. Wes Parmer, a National Guard Bureau spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

But the service later challenged the estimate, saying it did not have statistics to back it up. "There is nothing in the National Guard Bureau's review of the California bonus issue to support the estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 National Guard soldiers outside California have had their bonuses flagged for review and recoupment," Col. Les Melnyk wrote in an email statement. The Pentagon said it has not fully completed a review of bonus cases ordered last week by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and does not yet have accurate numbers to provide. It told Stars and Stripes that the instances of fraud and reclamation of bonuses is likely "in the dozens."

Members of the California National Guard stand in formation before undertaking operations on California's southern border​

However, a statistical survey by the National Guard in 2010 of about 9,000 bonuses given to soldiers outside California found about 11 percent warranted "additional review for possible contract termination or recoupment action" by the state National Guard bureaus, according to figures supplied by the service. Cases can be reviewed for a variety of reasons, including soldiers not fulfilling their agreement, lack of paperwork or fraud. The National Guard handed out a total of about $600 million in bonuses and education benefits to 107,000 soldiers in states and territories as of 2010, according to Parmer. There are about 340,000 soldiers in the Army National Guard. It was unclear Thursday what the states did with those cases.

The National Guard Bureau investigation "didn't include tracking each state's actions on recommendations. It's a state-centric process," Parmer wrote in an email. An effort by the California National Guard to review and reclaim some bonuses from a group of about 10,000 soldiers caused public outcry last week. Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered a temporary halt to the collections and Congress is eyeing new legislation to forgive the debt for those soldiers. The National Guard discovered fraud in California bonuses in 2010 and has since started recollecting about 2,000 and has yet to process thousands more. It ordered state bureaus to conduct audits in 2010 and took the statistical sample of the total number of cases, Parmer told Stars and Stripes. Parmer and the Pentagon underscored they do not believe the widespread fraud found in California was a problem elsewhere.

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