Going into debt prevents troops from being sent overseas...

[badgerpup]

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

SAN DIEGO - Thousands of U.S. troops are being barred from overseas duty because they are so deep in debt they are considered security risks, according to an Associated Press review of military records.

The number of troops held back has climbed dramatically in the past few years. And while they appear to represent a very small percentage of all U.S. military personnel, the increase is occurring at a time when the armed forces are stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are seeing an alarming trend in degrading financial health," said Navy Capt. Mark D. Patton, commanding officer at San Diego's Naval Base Point Loma.

The Pentagon contends financial problems can distract personnel from their duties or make them vulnerable to bribery and treason. As a result, those who fall heavily into debt can be stripped of the security clearances they need to go overseas.
(more)
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Gee...and the holiday season is coming up too.
Good reason to buy gifts for your loved ones...on your VISA. Besides, it's sooooo good for the economy.
:sarcasm:

[PghTiny]

1. That gives you 2 bad choices...

Servitude towards the war machine, or servitude towards the credit card vultures. But then, those new big flat-screen TVs sure look appealing...

[lcordero2]

2. there is a hole in the entire argument

When a servicemember deploys, they are protected by the servicemember's act. It means that the servicemember is protected by the govt from their creditors and that interest rates are either reduced or frozen, which actually gives the servicemember an opportunity to pay off their debts.

Putting the servicemember in nondeployable status is a payoff to banking and government contractors.

[jmowreader]

3. The Servicemember's Civil Relief Act isn't applicable here

Each of the services has a "debt load" at which they're required to suspend your security clearance.

I think it's around 40-45 percent, but the idea is that if a troop has too high a debt load, he'll be tempted to sell equipment or information to People Not Intended To Have It. In the 1980s we rooted a LOT of spies out of the American military, and almost all of them were motivated to sell out their country by the Almighty Buck.

Check out http://rf-web.tamu.edu/security/SECGUIDE/Treason/Numbers.htm and you'll see that money was a motivator in 69 percent (and the sole motivator in 56 percent) of all of the spy cases cracked in the 1980s. (You'll be pleased to know that the 1980s were called the Decade of the Spy because we busted a massive amount of spies in the 1980s, and almost all of the spies we busted in the 1990s were spying in the 1980s and were unmasked after the Cold War ended. Also remember what president was in power in the 1980s--yup, most of the spies the United States has ever unmasked were working during the Reagan Administration.) It stands to reason that if you've got such an obvious indicator of spying potential, you'll take steps to alleviate it, which is why they pull clearances when debt load gets too high.

On the modern battlefield, you MUST have a security clearance. Everyone out there has to be able to talk on the radio, and you need a security clearance just to pick up the handset and squeeze the button because the Signal Operating Instructions, the little book that lists the callsigns for everyone in your unit, is a classified document. Maps can be classified. A lot of weapons are classified--Stingers, for one. The challenge-and-password so you can reenter friendly lines are classified because they come out of the Signal Operating Instructions. You can't fight a war if you're not cleared.

[Greyhound]

4. Wow! I haven't seen Mr. Natural for so long, thanks! n/t