US Army faces massive recruiting fraud scandal

It sounds like the Army has some serious issues to deal with here. In looking at this story, it sounds widespread and large scale. Integrity for it's own sake and one's own sense of well being (for lack of a better term) is a dying concept.

Criminal investigators suspect hundreds of US Army soldiers exploited a recruitment program to receive illegal kickbacks worth more than $29 million, lawmakers and officials said.

The scale of the potential fraud was "astounding" and ranks as one of the largest criminal probes in the Army's history, said Senator Claire McCaskill, who held a hearing on the scandal.

An Army audit has found that more than 1,200 recruiters had received payments that were potentially fraudulent, defense officials said.

Source

The fraud apparently began back in 2005 and to give some sense of the true scale, consider that the payments came individually in $2,000-$7,500 increments to form the $29 Million dollar figure.

Now it could be said it's a recent thing or a one off event...but in searching before posting, I found other data on this story and another similar issue right here at ATS and from prior years.

Army National Guard/Reserve Recruiting Program Under Fraud Investigation. (2012)

National Guard recruiters forged re-enlistment papers: report (2010)

A mess, indeed.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I remember this program and thought to myself at the time, "People will end up in jail over this before to long." The requirements were vague and it had not a whole lot of oversight either.

Sounds like DC. Monkey see, Monkey do?

reply to post by TDawgRex


I was thinking that myself. More than most areas of life, failures in the military are top down failures, right?

The whole ship of state needs tightened up, from the Cannons down to the Keel, as it were.

reply to post by TDawgRex


The recruiting station I went to would do anything to get by. The falsified a lot of documents I would imagine. I remember them encouraging people to lie. Told one guy to hide his surgery. They would drug test people until they could pass. They got people better pay grades without any reason.. Heck I joined with an ID that the bank wouldn't even accept.

heh... This does not surprise me.

reply to post by KnightLight


There are always the bad mixed with the good. I've known some top notch recruiters, and yes, they hated their jobs. It seemed that the guys who liked being a recruiter were the ones always getting busted for fratinization with the recruits. It wouldn't suprised me one bit if some of these guys were also caught up in this.

The Army tried to force me to be a recruiter...but I had a plan. I would be my happy @$$hole self. Don't send the old dinosaur out to recruit the young, as the dinosaur has a tendency to scare them off. So they didn't take me and I got to mosey on my way minus that headache. LOL

Wrabbit2000
reply to post by TDawgRex

 

I was thinking that myself. More than most areas of life, failures in the military are top down failures, right?

The whole ship of state needs tightened up, from the Cannons down to the Keel, as it were.

The whole ship needs to be scapped as far as I'm concerned at this moment. Oh well, it's the crews fault. Every two years the crew has the opportunity patch the holes through elections. But for the most part, the crew chooses to do more damage instead, while all the while the Capt. approves.

And why are you up at O Dark thirty?!

It always amazes me how corruption spreads like cancer and when it is detected and found, it is shockingly bad like this.. The lure of getting some fat payments like that can turn almost anyone to "join the club". Where else has this corruption spread that we don't know about? I wonder.. It is visible almost everywhere already. These times we are in right now are straight jacket crazy..

alienreality
It always amazes me how corruption spreads like cancer and when it is detected and found, it is shockingly bad like this.. The lure of getting some fat payments like that can turn almost anyone to "join the club". Where else has this corruption spread that we don't know about? I wonder.. It is visible almost everywhere already. These times we are in right now are straight jacket crazy..

This one should not amaze you if you were familiar with the program. I'll break down the basics for you.

A soldier (or civilian) who referred a possible enlistee would receive $2000.00 dollars when the enlistee graduated his/her training.

Oft times the enlistee never knew of the program. Sometimes the recruiter would split the difference with the enlistee using a family member/friend as the reference.

You can see how messed up the program was just from that.

It was a way for the Army to get recruiters on the cheap. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. (I say that with tongue in cheek)

reply to post by TDawgRex


Yes, that does make it a whole lot easier to understand the how of it.. When a door to money can be opened like this, that's the door that will be seeing the most traffic.
Thanks for the info

reply to post by alienreality


I've served three decades and have often wondered how things go from a idea to being implimented, all without being actually thought about.

This is one of those things. I even bitched about it at the time, but was blown off. If a dumbass like me can see the loopholes and possible/likely fraud, why can't others?

Strange how it is fraud when the lower echelons do this but

When the Senators do it it is a loop hole!

P

TDawgRex
reply to post by alienreality

 

I've served three decades and have often wondered how things go from a idea to being implimented, all without being actually thought about.

This is one of those things. I even bitched about it at the time, but was blown off. If a dumbass like me can see the loopholes and possible/likely fraud, why can't others?

I believe mostly from observation of this same pattern where key players will only see the façade of integrity in "their" store, so to speak. And so it is a sort of denial, perhaps.. Who wants to say their entire wing, or division is rife with corruption or illicit activity? Not many, and most would just blow off anyone suggesting such a thing..

My parents loved certain politicians and would never accept that those certain people were corrupt, maybe even very, very corrupt because they would only allow their eyes to see the illusion of integrity. This because they were campaign donors and received nice Christmas cards from them Getting them to see the corruption is like trying to lead a mule somewhere he doesn't want to go, in that situation

pheonix358
Strange how it is fraud when the lower echelons do this but

When the Senators do it it is a loop hole!

P

Wha!?

Whodathunk?

It's the same in the UK , they show you the glamorous side . Be the best , was their motto . Never telling the poor unfortunates that they could be maimed or worse . Maybe kill innocent non combative s , but their lies are unraveling . The educated ones who know better steer well away . There's a big advertising campaign at the moment , doesn't seem to be working though .GOOD

reply to post by TDawgRex

And why are you up at O Dark thirty?!

Well, I'll tell ya... When i was in my 20's, I listened to people in their 40's talk about getting 4 hours sleep a night and being good to go. I couldn't imagine such a thing with my comfy 8 hours a night (or more). Now that I are one of those old codgers ...What do ya know? 4 hours a night works about right and 6 feels like I did something wrong by over sleeping. lol...

Life is funny at times, isn't it?

Not suprised.

Corruption like this in one form or another has been prevelent throughout history where recuitment bountys are concerned. I think every army has likley had to deal with it at some point or another. Espceialy when they get big with lots of bureaucratic layers. Least there not creating fake batllions like the British used to do!

reply to post by crazyewok


You have to make a conscious and deliberate effort to avoid that kind of thinking, in my opinion. I don't mean it harshly, just matter of fact. Down that path lay the logic of "Everyone does it ..or Everyone is to blame so No One is to blame".

"I was just following orders" is nothing but a play on that mindset and it's been the mindset pushed as the solution to all major public scandal for several years now at least.

Perhaps this has been happening as long as a nation or kingdom had a standing army to recruit and get paid for the service ..but that sure doesn't mean we should tolerate it for one second. All future wrongs build off wrongs of the past. So....what we collectively choose to accept as the baseline is only the start of where things go next. The worse we accept a baseline, the more extreme the wrongs will become in time, IMO.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


O Im not saying it should be torelated. Not one bit. Im just not surprised thats all as I think every Nation that has had a standing army has done it. Doesnt make it right, but its a issue thats been around a long time.

It needs to be cracked down on or you really will end up with extremes like the British circa 1776 were colonels would raise entire ghost batlions and pocked the cash that should be for pay and equipment.