D**s
发帖数: 6361 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 USANews 讨论区 】
发信人: rbs (jay), 信区: USANews
标 题: 马桶的国防部是穷疯了？
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Mon Oct 24 16:56:01 2016, 美东)
说几十年前多发给老兵的奖金发错了，要他们退还！
The Pentagon is seeking to recover decade-old reenlistment bonuses paid to
thousands of California Army National Guard soldiers to go fight in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
The paper reported that nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom risked their
lives during multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay the cash
bonuses after audits revealed widespread overpayments by California Guard
officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets at the height of the
wars 10 years ago.
But soldiers say the military is reneging on old agreements and imposing
severe financial hardship on those whose only mistake was to accept the
bonuses, which amounted to $15,000 or more.
The Army asked wounded Iraq veteran and former Army captain Christopher Van
Meter, 42, to repay a $25,000 reenlistment bonus it said he was ineligible
to receive. He was also asked to repay $21,000 in student loan repayments.
Van Meter told the paper that rather than fight the Army he paid back the
money after refinancing his home.
“These bonuses were used to keep people in,” Van Meter said. “People like
me just got screwed.”
The Times reported that 48-year-old Army sergeant Robert Richmond, who
suffered permanent injuries in an Iraq roadside bomb attack, is refusing to
repay his $15,000 cash bonus. The Army contends he was ineligible to receive
the bonus in 2006 because he had already served 20 years in the Army.
“I signed a contract that I literally risked my life to fulfill,” Richmond
told the paper. “We want somebody in the government, anybody, to say this
is wrong and we’ll stop going after his money.”
Investigations determined that fraud and mismanagement due to poor oversight
contributed to the California Guard bonus overpayments, according to the
Times.
California Guard officials conceded to the paper that taking back the money
from military veterans is distasteful.
“At the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price,”
Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California Guard, said.
“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.”
On Sunday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said in a
statement the Department of Defense should "waive these repayments," and
that the House "will investigate these reports to ensure our soldiers are
fully honored for their service.”
"It is disgraceful that the men and women who answered their country's call
to duty following September 11 are now facing forced repayments of bonuses
offered to them. Our military heroes should not shoulder the burden of
military recruiters' faults from over a decade ago," he said. "They should
not owe for what was promised during a difficult time in our country. Rather
, we are the ones who owe a debt for the great sacrifices our heroes have
made - some of whom unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice.." |
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