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Started By
Message
Thousands of former Cali National Guardsmen forced to repay enlistment bonuses
Posted on 10/22/16 at 7:55 pm
Posted on 10/22/16 at 7:55 pm
LINK
Well, that is a load of crap.
quote:
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.
quote:
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.
quote:
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.”
quote:
“At the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price,” said Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California Guard. “We’d be more than happy to absolve these people of their debts. We just can’t do it. We’d be breaking the law.”
Facing enlistment shortfalls and two major wars with no end in sight, the Pentagon began offering the most generous incentives in its history to retain soldiers in the mid-2000s.
It also began paying the money up front, like the signing bonuses that some businesses pay in the civilian sector.
quote:
“It was a real sea change in how business was done,” said Col. Michael S. Piazzoni, a California Guard official in Sacramento who oversaw the audits. “The system paid everybody up front, and then we spent the next five years figuring out if they were eligible.”
The bonuses were supposed to be limited to soldiers in high-demand assignments like intelligence and civil affairs or to noncommissioned officers badly needed in units due to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The National Guard Bureau, the Pentagon agency that oversees state Guard organizations, has acknowledged that bonus overpayments occurred in every state at the height of the two wars.
But the money was handed out far more liberally in the California Guard, which has about 17,000 soldiers and is one of the largest state Guard organizations.
In 2010, after reports surfaced of improper payments, a federal investigation found that thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were given to California Guard soldiers who did not qualify for them, or were approved despite paperwork errors.
Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guard’s incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.
Well, that is a load of crap.
This post was edited on 10/22/16 at 8:05 pm
Posted on 10/22/16 at 7:59 pm to GetCocky11
That's what happens when your warmongering government views the armed forces as nothing more than meat suits and cannon fodder fighting for special interests around the globe.
Posted on 10/22/16 at 7:59 pm to GetCocky11
If true, this is complete garbage. I bave no words at my dismay.
frick california, they should foot the bill. I hate lawsuits, but this is time to sue.
frick california, they should foot the bill. I hate lawsuits, but this is time to sue.
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:02 pm to ksayetiger
quote:
I hate lawsuits, but this is time to sue.
There was a class action suit filed way back in February. The government has been doing their best to slow it down. It is currently bogged down in a motion that won't be ruled on until January.
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:08 pm to GetCocky11
I doubt any guardsman would be able to assert an unclean hands or estoppel argument given that the party requesting payment is the federal government, which isn't subject to equitable defenses that exist by virtue of common law.
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:08 pm to SCLibertarian
quote:
That's what happens when your warmongering government views the armed forces as nothing more than meat suits and cannon fodder fighting for special interests around the globe.
I wonder if the Pentagon is going to force the Syrian rebels to repay their funding a decade after the Syrian war ends (if it ever ends).
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:13 pm to GetCocky11
How about the annual $3.5 billion to Israel? Wonder how the MIC would react if we asked Netanyahu for some of it back?
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:19 pm to GetCocky11
quote:
Well, that is a load of crap.
They applied for benefits that you receive immediately but is contingent upon you qualifying for the benefit to be fully awarded......these people did not qualify for the "free money" they received.
It's like the GOV handing out money to flood victims who claimed to be flood victims, and then later it's determined "your house didn't flood".....and then their claim is "you shouldn't haven't believed me and given me money"?
and because they are military who LIED for free money...you just want them to have it?
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:19 pm to GetCocky11
this is a toughie
i mean on one hand the guys didn't know it was improper
on the other hand, it was still money they should have never received
i mean on one hand the guys didn't know it was improper
on the other hand, it was still money they should have never received
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:26 pm to GetCocky11
what's wrong California..going broke for a certain reason.
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:37 pm to Kujo
quote:
and because they are military who LIED for free money...you just want them to have it?
^ That (on an individual soldier level) does not agree with this:
quote:
Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guard’s incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.
Or this:
quote:
“It was a real sea change in how business was done,” said Col. Michael S. Piazzoni, a California Guard official in Sacramento who oversaw the audits. “The system paid everybody up front, and then we spent the next five years figuring out if they were eligible.”
Posted on 10/22/16 at 8:58 pm to GetCocky11
(no message)
This post was edited on 9/27/20 at 12:20 am
Posted on 10/22/16 at 9:56 pm to Kujo
quote:
and because they are military who LIED for free money...you just want them to have it?
Somebody didn't read the article...
Posted on 10/22/16 at 10:01 pm to SlowFlowPro
quote:its called bait and switch dumbass
this is a toughie i mean on one hand the guys didn't know it was improper on the other hand, it was still money they should have never received
Posted on 10/22/16 at 10:49 pm to GetCocky11
quote:
Well, that is a load of crap.
They gotta pay for all those illegal mother frickers
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