Wounded Soldier: Military Wants Part Of Bonus Back

It is now being reported from various sources that this was an error on the part of the Pentagon and no soldiers are expected to return any money. Any soldiers who received these letters are asked to contact their superiors for correction and clarification.

I believe it. Government is incompetent... and some people want to give it more power.

Originally posted by Loki
Did you know that the Army fines you for getting sunburned? Yep, you get fined for damaging Government Property, a friend of mine who's done two tours in Iraq told me this.

Now thats just idocy. A soldier is out in the bilstering sun, for god knows how many hours, worried about who's next to step on a land mine, or get hit by enemy fire, and the ARMY is worried about whether or not his skin is sunburnt?

Well, if anything, such bull# policies from the US DoD should help the public see the need to support the men and women in uniform. Either way, this is just a travesty.

reply to post by apc



the military JAG came to the rescue is my best guess....

it's just the matter of .... Just How These Letters Got Sent Out to begin with,
after all there Is a Chain-of-Command and someone started the avalanche


( ? neocons in the subterranian passages of the Pentagon intent on causing havoc? )

[edit on 21-11-2007 by St Udio]

When something absolutely ridiculous like this happens, the people need to immediately email their elected representatives. I would hope that they would try to correct an obvious error like this.

Unfortunately, I doubt what they are now saying about this being a mistake in the first place. If the media didn't report on it, i bet these wounded soldiers would still be forced to pay back the money.

I believe that things like this are not so much a democrat/republican issue as they are a government in general issue.

Haha, brilliant.

"Join NOW and get lots and lots of extra cash!"
*combat ensues, get injured and not able to go back into the battlefield*
"Sucks that you failed son, guess you won't get that cash now either."

reply to post by St Udio


Not sure. Surely if someone with full knowledge of the scope of these letters were involved, they would have also had full expectation of the media circus to follow. While it is entirely possible that that was the intent all along, I lean more towards human error/stupidity as the cause. It can only be expected.

reply to post by apc


What you are saying is absolutely possible but having been in the military for long I highly doubt it. This is the way the DoD operates, just trying to get away with stuff, to that end people in the Pentagon that are out of touch with what really goes on in the field come up with stupid ideas like the one we are discussing and other stupid ideas such as this:
DoD Proposes Tripling of TRICARE Fees

And cases like this are becoming more common:
The War Inside

The reality is MONEY, with an expensive war going and the need to have the money going towards the war effort, all others things are considered fair game, including wounded vets.The less money they spend on those the more they have for other things.

Why do they want to increase TRICARE fees? The answer is simple if you look at it, the VA and the DoD knows that by having an avalanche of wounded soldiers surviving in the battle field they are going to need to provide healthcare for them and with the rising cost of health care one way to push them out of the system is to increase they fees so this would seek care elsewhere. Sounds like vets are fair game to the DoD if that means less cost.

The issue here is money, and by their previous practices they have shown that they would do anything to save money even if it is at the expense of are who have proudly serve their country.





[edit on 21-11-2007 by Bunch]

Tricare is a touchy subject as my husband and me are under tricare because he is retired and his company being a government contract are saving money offering only supplemental insurance if you are already on tricare.

But thankfully we have some lobbyist in Washington taking care of the retirees and our vets.

I guess the military has overdone their limit.

reply to post by InSpiteOf


When a person signs up for military service, they become government property. I know of a few friends that were fined for damaging themselves while on leave. It was never an issue while they were on duty ,training or in combat.

One was in a motorcycle accident. He knew the moment it happened he would be in some trouble. He said if you read the contract you sign before going in, it's clearly stated. Motorcycle riding is considered a hazardous activity, so he knew what was going on before he ever got on the bike.

I think the incident in question is just some sort of clerical error. Hell, the government can't even get my name right after 12 years of trying to correct them on it's proper spelling.

Would be interesting to see one of these contracts. Anyone have a copy of one?

I think the pentagon thought this would go over smoothly until radio shows and the media found out. After the people knew about this the pentagon was like " that's not right" nevermind the letters, it was a mistake, sorry about that." But you know they're thinking right now how to get that money back without us knowing about it next time.

For those that have never served, this comes as a surprise to us that have. For those of us that have (26 USAF retired), this is nothing more than S2D2 (same sh#t different day). It is not just the Army that will fine you for getting sunburned, that good old USAF will also. Your nothing but a number and for those that don't know, GI means government issue.

The retirees know what its like, we have been cheated, lied to, kicked in the arse and told to be quiet and be happy with what you get...go home. I could go on and on how we are treated...shameful.

reply to post by pstrron


Indeed!

The same thing happened to the Veterans of Vietnam (both drafted and enlisted) when they were exposed to Agent Orange.

They suffered a lifetime of illnesses as a result of that war and they were absolutely NOTHING in the government's eyes afterwards.

Jasn

Originally posted by SimiusDei


My god! This is freaking ridiculous.

Not only do they not pay these guys well enough as it is, but now they want them to give the money back when they get wounded?

Hell, if anything they should get MORE money.


This is a crying shame!!!!!


Jasn

kdka.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It is not a shame. It is treason.

[edit on 22-11-2007 by redwraith94]

Indeed this is horrible. However, there is hope in this case. The bill designed to guarantee the military members their bonus is H.R. 3793: Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007. It was introduced by Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA].

To amend title 37, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to continue to pay to a member of the Armed Forces who is retired or separated from the Armed Forces due to a combat-related injury certain bonuses that the member was entitled to before the retirement or separation and would continue to be entitled to if the member was not retired or separated.

Source
Hopefully it will go through without a hitch.

As for those who have served and those who are serving, Thank You.

Originally posted by camain
This sounds like nothing more then a contract dispute. If you got a sign on bonus to work as a nurse, or tech support even, then get hurt, would you have to pay it back? You absolutely would. Sorry, but the government is just a big corporation, they have to conduct business just like anyone else.
If these people that got hurt, have to pay back the money, it should make not just them, but all the American People think, "why volunteer".

Throwing money at people is not an effective way to manage care, and support. This is just an example of the american people having no control on there government, and them doing whatever the heck they want too.

Cheers,

Camain

I don't post much in this venue, because I tend to get in trouble here. As in the following statement.

I think that for the most part Camain, is an insensitive, self-centered type of moron with no thought for anyone other than him/her/itself. This time, however, I gotta say that, for the most part, I agree with him/her/it.

This country is going down hill fast. This is an outrage that this is happing and if congress does not fix this, all should be voted out of office.

I have a cousin that went to Iraq in January 05. When he left, he had not been paid since October 04. He tried every way that he could think of in the system to get things straight, but couldn't. In April 05, he called me and told me that he still had not got paid and that his wife and kids didn't even have food in the house. I asked him if he wanted me to see if I could get something done about it and he said YES!!! I got on the phone and called senators, congressmen and the White House and raised hell. In about three days he called and said that he had got a letter from Bush apologizing for the problem and promising to have the situation resolved in a few days and it was.

He was hit five times by IED's and was denied two medals that he should have gotten. These people do not receive the respect that they deserve from the people that send them to fight.