A federal audit has discovered that up to 10,000 California National Guard enlistees received improper bonuses at the time of their recruitment and now the government wants the vets to pay the bonsues back.
The bonuses were meant to spur recruitment a decade ago when Guard enlistments were lagging. But the money was only supposed to go to recruits who signed up for “high demand” positions. Thousands received the bonuses anyway.
“The way to fix it if the law needs to be changed,” says McVey, “that’s what elected officials are for. They should fix the problem not lay it off on what in fact are turning into the victims.”
The money was given to the soldiers upfront, similar to an athlete getting a signing bonus.
According to the LA Time, the bonus money was supposed to be limited to soldiers who were taken on high-demand assignments.
A federal investigation uncovered thousands of bonuses and studentloan payments that were given to California Guard soldiers who didn’t qualify under the high-demand assignment criteria.
Fajardo also spoke to retired US Army Chief Warrant Officer Warren Finch who also served in the Guard.
She asked him if he believed the money should be returned?
“I don’t think so.” he said, “I think they took the bonus honestly believing that’s what they were authorized. To be perfectly honest I think the people that did it, promised them the bonus should be the ones paying it back.”
Finch says as the military works to sort out accusations of fraud and mismanagement, it’s the soldiers who are paying the price.
“It also could discourage people from joining the military and that hurts especially when you have an all-volunteer army,” says Finch.The LA Times said this “give it back” policy would affect 10,000 current and retired soldiers. A Guard spokesperson said the figure would actually be much lower.
The California National Guard believe it is under fire and it also looking for legislative help. A spokesperson wrote, “The California National Guard does not have the authority to unilaterally waive these debts., However, the California National Guard welcomes any law passed by Congress to waive these debts.”
The ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is from the Inland Empire. Fajardo reached Rep Mark Takano by phone — be declined to talk and referred her to his chief of staff.
It is patently unfair to force someone to repay a debt he had no idea he was taking on. I would guess that most of those recruits probably signed up for one of those “high demand” jobs only to find out later they were unqualified or perhaps didn’t want to be slotted there. Since the cash was paid at the time of enlistment, it was too late to give it back.
I feel pretty confident Congress will treat the vets fairly and forgive the debt. It’s the least we can do for men and women who stepped up when their country called and volunteered to serve.
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