Thread: Pentagon demands return of bonuses paid to veterans a decade ago!

-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.

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...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/10/24...ecade-ago.html

Ridiculous.

I would think there would be a statute of limitations on recovery of such overpayments.

For example, if the government mistakenly sends me an income tax refund that is too large, do they have a right to demand the return of the overpayment 10 years later? I would think not.

Here in OK, the VA has notified vets they will no longer pay for flight school. This also includes a school where folks go to get and A&P license.

Saw this story on the news last night - Absolutely Shameful

Veterans targeted, IMHO, points to a sickening possibility..an indirect way to DISCOURAGE people from joining the military...weaken the military by removing benefits and then claiming the lack of interest by Americans is to blame...they know at this time when America seems to be SAFE from our enemies young people have no patriotic motivation to join so if they also remove benefits the decrease is going to be measurable..

I have seen and heard so much in the past few weeks that the strategy to weaken and destroy America seems to have NO limits.

Hillary literally stated she WANTS Obamacare to be abolished but it has to be 'by Republicans'...she will covertly support it's demise...then she can initiate her own version, her own legacy....

Originally Posted by Quest

Veterans targeted, IMHO, points to a sickening possibility..an indirect way to DISCOURAGE people from joining the military...weaken the military by removing benefits and then claiming the lack of interest by Americans is to blame...they know at this time when America seems to be SAFE from our enemies young people have no patriotic motivation to join so if they also remove benefits the decrease is going to be measurable..

I have seen and heard so much in the past few weeks that the strategy to weaken and destroy America seems to have NO limits.

Hillary literally stated she WANTS Obamacare to be abolished but it has to be 'by Republicans'...she will covertly support it's demise...then she can initiate her own version, her own legacy....

Exactly what I was thinking about the Vets, Quest.