Posted on 10/04/2007 9:15:19 AM PDT by doc30
Iraq vets say Pentagon is denying benefits
When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit.
The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.
And 1st Lt. Jon Anderson says he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.
"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership, once again failing the soldiers."
Here's what happened: Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days. Had they been written for 730 days -- one day more -- the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.
"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.
That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration.
It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.
"I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington -- (the leadership) that extended us in the first place -- would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said.
Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730.
Now six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it.
So have Senators Amy Klobuchar (D) and Norm Coleman (R).
Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."
Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home.
"I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."
The Army did not respond to KARE11's questions Tuesday afternoon.
Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally. And they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.
Minnesota National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said the soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice."
Tell the Pentagon we don’t want them saving money this way!
+1. I’ve just started using my GI bill as an active duty vet. I’d be seriously pissed if I was a Guardsman and they refused to pay me that bennie. That’s absurd.
Goddamned ridiculous those veterans are the reason there is a pentagon and a country, war vets should get a whole ass load more than they do now.
Is it true the story I heard that Carter denied the GI bill to Veitnam vets?
I’d wait a while before condemming anyone. I smell a Geraldo-like reporter here (talentless, ugly, and completely without morals).
That does sound very fishy... I hope some penny-pinching bureaucrat bean-counter in DOD gets pinched for this.
Ditto, smells like bad reporting or maybe an oversight, it will get sorted out and the vets will get treated fairly i believe.
Of course they had to call it Rumfield's Pentagon
Geez, I hate the media.
Matter of fact, I wouldn’t want any money going towards a ‘masters in public administration’ or a degree in law enforcement. They are both fake, useless, overcosted featherbedding ticket punching.
This guy is going to manage public finances, rules and regulations? And he doesn’t think it applies to him? He should not of made a promise he could not keep. On the other hand, making promises that you know are not right, and then mau-mauing and victimizing is a good start for a political career type.
What about the guy that wants/is a cop? Why do we have rules, regulations, codes, ordnances, local state and federal laws by the hundreds of thousands of pages?
Actually, H.R. 8701, the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977, provided expanded benefits for Vietnam era veterans, including a 6.6-percent increase in monthly educational assistance benefits retroactive to October 1.
the program they’re speaking of is the Chapter 1607 REAP program (Reserve Educational Assistance Program), a relatively new DOD program for guard/reserve called to active duty in response to war, etc...for full time entitlement, i.e. 12 semester credit hours in a full term, usually 16 weeks or thereabouts, with 90 days+ service in theater is $440.40; 1 year+ is $660.60; 2 years+ is $880.80...so 729 days is indeed one day short of the requirement to receive the 2 year+ benefit...this is no accident...
The Guard members were prob. Mobilized for their tour. If they are, they can only serve 2years within a 5yr time period under a Operation, ie Operation Noble Eagle.
As such, they DoD would have to issue a whole new set of orders under a new Operation, which is not gonna happen.
But I am very skeptical that orders were written for 729 days. Typically, we have seen Reserve/Guard call-ups for 12 to 15 months, and then there are the extensions that are issued due to necessity. But initial orders for 22 months - doesn’t seem correct.
Now - in the reserve world, there is careful attention to ensuring that no Reservist accumulates 18 years of active service, since that would automatically allow the member to stay on active duty for another 2 years, and then start drawing an immediate retirement, instead of a retirement that starts at age 60. To prevent this from happening, no further active duty orders are issued to someone who gets 16 years of active duty “on the books.” (In my 30 years of active/reserve time, I had about 10 years of active duty time ...). This policy is enacted by Congressional Mandate!!
So I would want to see if there were, in fact, actual orders for 729 days, vs. much shorter call-up orders, and then additional accumulated time. Note also - the DoD/Pentagon has to operate by Congressional mandates, and the DoD can’t go about issuing orders that kick in additional benefits if Congress has issued mandates that the DoD can’t do so ....so ultimately, I suspect the root of the problem will be Congressional mandates, not heartless/unfeeling Pentagon people.
Mike
Not unusual. During previous deployments, 1st Gulf war, the army orders were for 179 days. This way the soldier wouldn’t qualify for a short tour.
This doesn’t surprise me. Bureacrats in action.
We have had 3 soldiers in my unit who hit sanctuary for active duty retirement.
When 2 of the soldiers hit the 18 year mark, they got orders to an active duty post and finished off their time.
The last soldier was unique. He got out at 17 years due to a bad divorce where he didn’t want to pay his ex wife and didn’t like the army sending him to Korea. He shouldn’t have been mobilized, due to the law. This LTC did his last 2 years and a few months in the Reserves. Once he hit 20, he called his branch and asked for his retirement orders.
Normally I would think the army would really screen this so it doesn’t happen, but with the shortages in upper grades, they know they get another soldier for at least 2 years.
It’ll get sorted out NOW that it’s been reported. If nobody had bitched, they’d keep screwing these Guardsmen/Women. Typical REMF stunt.
Unfortunately for you we live in a 'sort of' free country where people are free to get an education and work in jobs that interest them instead of doing as you say.
“Why do we have rules, regulations, codes, ordnances, local state and federal laws by the hundreds of thousands of pages?”
Because we live in an over regulated, over taxed, cry baby nanny state whose bureaucrats are only concerned with covering their own butts, not public service, and who are completely devoid of any common sense.
“This guy is going to manage public finances, rules and regulations? And he doesn’t think it applies to him?”
He’s exactly they type of guy we should have managing our society. Instead we have guys like you. Thats why everyone hates bureaucrats.
So it’s our politicians who are screwing over vets. I am not surprised. The only species worse than politician are bureaucrat and lawyer and politicians have the worst aspects of both.
This is ABSOLUTE F$%KING BULLSH!T! I’ve got friends in the MN ARNG that I’ve helped out finacially and otherwise while they’ve been deployed, and the WORTHLESS G#DDAMN BEANCOUNTING GOVERNMENT DESK JOCKEY LOSER PIECES OF CRAP sh!t on them like this while giving every worthless POS bastard on wellfare more of my tax money? It’s damn near time for and armed revolt. Maybe I’m overreacting, but this kind of thing makes me want to hurt people.
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