Wounded Soldier: Military Wants Part Of Bonus Back

[Purveyor]

Source: KDKA, PA

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

One of them is Jordan Fox, a young soldier from the South Hills.

--
A few months later Fox was sent home. His injuries prohibited him from fulfilling three months of his commitment. A few days ago, he received a letter from the military demanding nearly $3,000 of his signing bonus back.



Read more: http://kdka.com/local/military.signing.bonuses.2.571660.html

[boricua79]

1. I love these stories

keep reminding soldiers what institutions they work for, and how they're going to be treated afterwards.

Maybe it'll keep more people from joining it.

They don't care about you, guys...you are useful drones for their wars. They'll use you, they'll try to squirm their way from paying you any benefits that you're entitled to, and they'll often abandon you as a sick veteran afterwards.

We'd all love a military that actually honors its soldiers...but that ain't reality. So wake up people and know who you work for. And if you don't agree with it, DON'T JOIN!

[Kikosexy2]

15. So this is ...

what SUPPORT THE TROOPS is really all about...so freakin' sad! despicable!....sigh!

[rocktivity]

2. TORO TURD!!!!

You get that money FOR enlisting, not for completing it. And if you're wounded, it CERTAINLY isn't your fault that you couldn't complete it. Shame on them, treating the soliders like they're a bunch of insurance cheats!

:mad:
rocknation

[damntexdem]

21. And when a soldier is wounded so that s/he can no longer serve, s/he HAS completed their service.

Will the military next ask for returns from the estates of military members killed in action?

[ThomCat]

26. I'm sure if they could get away with it they certainly would.

:(

[Beerboy]

3. Typical. n/t.

[MaineDem]

4. My head is about to explode

This is beyond ludicrous!

[Lasher]

5. What a disturbing trend

We prey on our wounded soldiers and cut funding for programs like food stamps while giving billions more to people who are already billionaires.

[Spazito]

6. Bloody vultures, this is beyond despicable!

I AM glad this is being made public, it has to make even some of the hard-core kool-aide drinkers wake up and see what monsters they have been supporting.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Goddamit, a deal's a deal.

These welshers should have thought about getting wounded or killed before they made the commitment. I think the government should hang onto the bonuses until those chiseling troops actually serve out their commitment. That would sure cut down on all that whining about "I lost my legs. I wanna quit." Deserving corporations are having to cut back their profit statements every day because these people expect to be paid for jobs they're not doing.

(I'm practicing for a job as a right-wing pundit. How'm I doing?)

[lapfog_1]

11. You have a ways to go... Ann Coulter has done better

“I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much.” (on the 9/11 widows)

We need to demand that the widows, orphans, parents, and widowers of the troops who have died repay their loved ones re-enlistment bonuses IN FULL (and with interest). They are likely out "enjoying" the death of their loved ones by spending all of that ill gotten money!

(hows that? :sarcasm:)

[Jackpine Radical]

14. Thanks. You've helped me realize how far I have to go.

It's a problem I've been having a lot lately. My attempts at satire keep getting outstripped by reality. To paraphrase Lily Tomlin, "No matter how outrageous you get, you can't keep up with the Bushies."

[The Blue Flower]

19. You left out...

They probably signed up and took the bonuses with the INTENT of getting maimed so they wouldn't have to live up to their half of the bargain.

That should lower it to the level of Coultergeist.

[damntexdem]

22. Fairly well, but you didn't push the cases of those KIA.

You need to explain how death is no excuse for not finishing one's commitment.

;-)

[Kool Kitty]

30. Pretty good.

I thought you were channeling Glen Beck. ;)

[liberal N proud]

8. Un $#%&^@ believable

:nuke:

[northzax]

9. it's called bad systems management

the payroll system can't talk to the HR system, and it spits out letters like this. obviously, no one will really have to pay this back, but the payroll system is coded to protate your bonus, and if you leave the service, figure out what you owe. this isn't anything personal, it really isn't, it's just a crappily designed system for several million people.

[rocktivity]

10. Actually, this has been going on for a while.

Here's the story of a guy who got kicked out for being gay and having to give back his bonus! P.S. He was reinstated, but there's no indication if his bonus was.

:(
rocknation

[northzax]

13. i know. it is bad systems management

payroll, HR and disability people don't talk to each other automatically. these are some of the biggest payroll systems in the world, a couple of million people, 100,000+ entering and leaving the system every year, at different levels, getting paid different amounts. no one sees these letters before the computer spits them out, or even after, it's completely automatic. Ever had an employer screw up your paycheck? happens all the time, with companies much smaller than the US Military, computers do this sort of stuff all the time. the payroll system sends the stuff to collections, which keeps trying to collect until someone with the correct authority tells it to stop. (Full disclosure: I am dating someone who works in the Army's HR division, and I know the Commanding General quite well) it's not intentional, i guarantee you that, it's just poorly designed and implemented systems, every now and then they make mistakes.

[Robbien]

12. One caveat. Since most sub-systems have been outsourced

I am not too sure the guy will not have to pay this back without going through a lot of hassle. Once the military system spits out a bill and the soldier doesn't pay, the military subcontracts collections to an outside source.

So while the wounded soldier may not really have to pay this, he will have to fight a collections agency first.

[AlinPA]

20. re:" ...no one will really have to pay this back". How do you know that?

[northzax]

27. because their contracts stipulate

that if they are discharged from service due to injuries incurred while on duty, they are considered to have fulfilled their time obligation to the country. same thing happens for officers who attended a service academy, in exchange for their tuition, they agree to serve a certain number of years, if they are honorably discharged due to injury or incapacitation, they are considered to have fulfilled their obligation.

[Dr.Phool]

16. They're also discharging wounded soldiers with

"Pre-existing personality disorders" to deny medical treatment. Even after they've re-enlisted a couple of times.

Big article a couple of months ago in www.thenation.com

It's searchable.

[Sabriel]

17. Gee, I can't figure out why enlistment numbers are down.

Could this type of idiocy have ANYTHING to do with it?

[alfredo]

18. Just passed this on to my veterans mailing list.

[SKKY]

23. Now, here's the funny thing about all of this...

...70% of these people will vote Republican in the next election. I have no idea why, but I've done my own decidedly non-scientific survey and work and believe me, the Military is still a very safe place for a republican to depend on for support. It boggles the imagination, huh?

On Edit: When I said, "...these people...", I was referring to the current force, not those who have been forced out due to injuries, disabilities, etc.

[Vinca]

24. I'm sending a copy of this to my adopted senator, Bernie Sanders.

(I live in NH with Gregg and Sununu - 'nuff said.) Bernie is the one man in Washington who can get something done. This article is astonishing, to say the least. The kid will probably get a bill for the bandaids he used.

[fed-up]

25. off to the greatest (or is it saddest?) nt

[proud2bamerican2]

28. Send a txt to a soldier for turkey day

Came across this offer and thought it'd be a good thing to do to show our troops we support them.

***
http://560wind.townhall.com/Columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2007/11/20/thank_troops_with_a_free_text
If there was a free, easy way to send a message of support directly to troops for Thanksgiving would you do it?

Yes? Well, get out your cell phone.

The Department of Defense is offering an instant text messaging service to put Americans in touch with U.S. soldiers who are protecting them abroad during the holiday season.

Those who wish to participate can send a free text message to say thanks to 89279 and will immediately get a response from a soldier on their phone. (I did it and received five heartfelt responses within a few minutes.)

This free texting service is provided through AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile and will expire on November 22.

For more details about the program, called America Supports, click http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx. The website features a widget that publishes some of the real-time messages being sent for those unsure of what to write.

[nam78_two]

29. Beyond disgusting

:(

[Barrett808]

31. k & r

[Catchawave]

32. Shouldn't he be getting disability compensation ?

I still think he should keep his signing bonus, but the article didn't mention if he should be entitled to disability pay? Losing sight in one eye will severely limit him with job choices, otherwise the military would have kept him around for 3 more months.

Truly bizzarro.