U.S. Soldiers Betrayed by Their Government

"All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed."

-I. F. Stone

U.S. Soldiers Betrayed by Their Government

Pentagon Orders Soldiers to Return Enlistment Bonuses

By de Andréa,

Opinion Editorialist for

‘THE BOTTOM LINE’

Published October 27, 2016

“Here is a check for $30,000, sign this contract and spend the next 6 years in combat.  You might come back missing arms, face or your legs, maybe even your life, but at least you have $30,000.

10 years later nearly 10,000 soldiers are threatened to be sent to the Gulags or to give back the money paid them for their reenlistment.

A decade after the California National Guard offered bonuses starting at $15,000 to as much as $55,000 to soldiers if they would reenlist for 6 years and serve on combat tours, the Pentagon is now demanding these soldiers repay the money or face legal consequences, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.  What! Is Obama’s support the enemy fund running a little low???

Soldiers Ordered to Return Bonuses

The California Guard’s use of monetary incentives in the mid-2000's to boost the declining enlistment rosters while facing two wars enticed nearly 10,000 soldiers to reenlist. But years after the Contracts were made, the government decided that California Guard officials mismanaged the agreements and allowed for widespread fraud. As a bitter thanks for their service, thousands of soldiers have been ordered to repay those bonuses.

"Shame on the callous Pentagon decision makers who simply dictate pay back, while not thinking through the effect it will have on service personal and the fallout of bad publicity in the communities in which they live."

"At the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price," Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California Guard, told the LA Times. "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."

I can’t help but wonder if it occurred to them that violating a good faith contract is breaking the law…

According to Col. Michael S. Piazzoni, a California Guard official who supervised the audits, the Guard paid much of the money upfront while the system spent the next several years analyzing whether or not the agreements were even above board. The soldiers with whom the Guard made the agreements primarily were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

When the National Guard Bureau investigated the bonus payments across the country, the Pentagon agency found that bonus overpayments took place in every state. But California engaged in the highest levels of overpayments and incentives dangled in front of the soldiers to entice them to reenlist.

The unpleasant discovery of the error in California was made 10 years ago, and was given to Senator Barbara Boxer who dropped the ball.  Moreover the Pentagon still ordered approximately 9,700 of the soldiers to repay the bonuses. So far, $22 million has been returned. But the repayment initiatives have left these soldiers bitter, broke, and betrayed, while many began filing appeals or flat out refusing to comply with the Pentagon’s orders.  And the media failed to report it until now.

NOTE: Someone should have told these soldiers that Senators no longer represent anything, they just represent themselves.  Read the 17^th amendment.

Robert Richmond recently told the LA Times he reenlisted as a Special Forces soldier when he learned that he ostensibly qualified for a $15,000 bonus. After being deployed to Iraq in 2007, Richmond served in the town of Hillah, which was part of an area known as the "Triangle of Death." Richmond was left with permanent brain and back injuries after a roadside bomb exploded near him.  When Richmond learned that the Pentagon had slapped him in the face with an order to repay his bonus or face "debt collection action," he could not believe it.  "I signed a contract that I literally risked my life to fulfill," Richmond told the LA Times. "We want somebody in the government, anybody, to say this is wrong and we’ll stop going after this money."  After refusing to pay the bonuses and filing several appeals, the Treasury Department informed Richmond that his "unpaid $15.000 delinquent debt" has now risen to $19,694.62.  The U.S. Federal Government has obviously taken on the role of LOAN SHARK!

One retired colonel slammed the deep injustice handed to the California guardsmen.  "This is not the way to treat soldiers. I can fully understand how soldiers in the article felt 'betrayed, screwed, frustrated, and overwhelmed,'" retired Col. James A. Lake told Life Zette. "Shame on the callous Pentagon decision makers who simply dictate pay back while not thinking through the effect it will have on service personal and the fallout of bad publicity in the communities in which they live." Lake, who served 26 years in the United States Army, served as a battalion commander for active and reserve recruiting during the 1980s. Noting that it was "very common" for recruiters to offer incentives to entice men and women with highly sought-after occupational skills to enlist, Lake said the incentive program was "necessary" for recruitment efforts.  "The article appears to outline clearly that there was fraud and bad management at the National Guard level in administrating the incentives. Whether it was the pressure of meeting quotas or just pure ignorance, the enlistee should not bear the responsibility to pay back that which was given," Lake said. "The only exception would be if the enlistee knew that the integrity of the incentive program was being breached."

"One hopes the current class action suit filed in Sacramento — where the suit asked the court to order the recovered money to be returned to the soldiers and to issue an injunction against the government barring further collection — will succeed," Lake added. "Additionally, it is time to get the politicians involved with the Pentagon and stop this madness. Soldiers deserve better from the nation they have served."

But good luck getting even a thankyou from this Communist Government.  Our soldiers will be lucky if they aren’t sent to the Gulags’.

Note: Did you know that these soldiers had to pay income taxes on these bonuses?  I wonder if these Marxist Fabians will be so eager to pay the taxes back…

Probably not!

Watch videos identifying this Issue 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NdnXj7jOy4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDsHi6VJcYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m767HOo99w0

Thanks for listening my friend!   

- de Andréa

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