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Thousands of soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war – U.S. – Stripes

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — 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,…

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — 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.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.

“These bonuses were used to keep people in,” said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran from Manteca, Calif., who says he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the Army says he should not have received. “People like me just got screwed.”

via www.stripes.com

Ouch.

Makes me kinda grateful I never received any reenlistment bonuses.

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Responses to “Thousands of soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war – U.S. – Stripes”

  1. McThag

    They still haven’t fixed the system? It’s been 30 years!
    When I was medically discharged, they kept paying a direct deposit to my bank account for three months. Their mistake, but I had to pay penalties in addition to giving the money back.
    Then on voc-rehab they discovered that I’d been getting my GI Bill too, thus double-dipping. Did the person at the VA who helped me apply for both programs at once get in trouble? Nope. But I had to pay every penny of that GI Bill back, with penalties.

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  2. McThag

    I forgot to mention. “Pay them back” consisted stopping any payment direct to me for voc-rehab (they kept paying tuition) cutting off my GI Bill and cutting my disability pay until they felt they’d gotten their money back.
    It was non-trivial with an inability to work because of the physical therapy and classes going on to lose all of my income for near a year.

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  3. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    FUBAR

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  4. John in Philly

    When the Navy changed the bonus rules after we had signed the contract the challenge when all the way to the Supreme Court.
    https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/431/864/case.html
    I should have gotten my bonus in 1977 or so, but by the time the case went through the legal system I did not get a check until the early nineties.
    The actual buying value of the money I got was far less than what it would have been worth.
    A side effect was that those of us involved would never really trust the Navy ever again. (as to whether or not we should have ever trusted them, that needs a much longer post)
    John in Philly, USN 73′-81′ USNR 81′-97′

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  5. timactual

    “They still haven’t fixed the system? It’s been 30 years!”
    I am pretty sure the Roman legionaries had similar complaints. The military is a bureaucracy run by bureaucrats. It will never be fixed.

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