State guardsmen sue for expenses incurred during post-9/11 duty

[Judi Lynn]

State guardsmen sue for expenses incurred during post-9/11 duty
By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press Writer | January 11, 2006

BOSTON --A group of National Guard soldiers who were ordered to protect possible targets after the Sept. 11 attacks sued the state and federal governments Wednesday, seeking tens of millions of dollars in living expenses they say were never reimbursed.

The soldiers, who are from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, say they traveled hundreds of miles to security postings -- such as Quabbin Reservoir, the Boston area's primary water supply -- and used their own money for gas, food and lodging, expecting to be paid back.

But the soldiers say in their complaint that their requests for compensation were repeatedly denied until they were told by their commanding officers that they could be taken off their missions if they didn't stop asking for reimbursement. The response, they said, had a "chilling effect."

"Plaintiffs concluded they could not seek the ... reimbursement compensation they felt they were owed, without extreme and negative repercussions on their military careers," the complaint reads.
(snip/...)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/01/11/state_guardsmen_sue_for_expenses_incurred_during_post_911_duty/

[salin]

1. go to duty in emergency, wrack up big expenses

and be threatened if you ask for reembursement... guess that was just the foreshadowing for the treatment to come from this administration per reservists.

from the story:

Plaintiff Louis Tortorella, a retired National Guard captain from Brookline, N.H., said starting in December 2001 he commuted up to 126 miles one way during assignments at Quabbin, Westover Air Reserve Base in western Massachusetts, and Camp Edwards on Cape Cod.

Tortorella said his commute started at 4:30 a.m., and he sometimes didn't get home until midnight. He was forced to sell his shares in a Tewksbury car dealership and blames a heart attack last year on stress from his assignments.

He says he spent $14,625 of his own money during 21 months of active duty.