Texas Guard still trying to recoup $4.6M in bonuses
Re-enlistment deals fueled by Iraq insurgency
Only three Texas National Guard soldiers who transferred from California have been caught up in a re-enlistment bonus controversy that made headlines across the country and triggered a Pentagon order to stop federal efforts to collect millions of dollars from troops, officials said.
But officials at Camp Mabry in Austin said the Texas Guard is still trying to recoup up to $4.6 million from 2,252 soldiers it believes violated their bonus contracts. A review found no evidence that it inadvertently gave its soldiers larger-than-allowed bonuses — problems that emerged in the California scandal — and no evidence of fraud, the officials said.
Texas has the nation’s largest National Guard organization, with 18,216 soldiers in its Army component and another 3,315 airmen. Overall, 10,366 of its GIs were given $48 million in enlistment and reenlistment bonuses from 2007 through the 2016 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 20.
The bonuses became popular with Army National Guard organizations nationwide as the Iraq insurgency exploded in 2006 and the Pentagon grew desperate to keep experienced troops in uniform. Arecent Los Angeles
Times account of the program administered by the California National Guard revealed that thousands of soldiers were ordered to repay higher-than-authorized bonuses mistakenly handed out years ago. $22 million returned
Defense Secretary Ash Carter suspended the California Guard collection efforts after a public outcry last month, saying he wanted to fairly treat California soldiers who might have been given bonuses or tuition assistance in error. In that state, the Los Angeles Times reported, 9,700 troops have been forced to pay back $22 million in bonus money.
Some California veterans told the Times they had to take out loans and second mortgages to repay their bonuses. One master sergeant, the incentives manager for the California program, was given 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2011 to filing $15.2 million in false claims.
Carter was critical of the sluggish pace of resolving cases, and said the Defense Department would “provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own” while vowing to “respect our important obligation to the taxpayer.”
A Pentagon official, Maj. Jamie Davis, said the stop-payment order only affected the California National Guard. Recoupment efforts are ongoing in other states, including Texas.
“After a thorough internal review coupled with reports from a recent site visit by the National Guard Bureau, we are confident that unauthorized con- tracts of enlistment bonuses are not an issue in the Texas Army National Guard,” Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Walters, the guard’s chief spokesman, said in a prepared statement. 601 soldiers appeal
The problem stretches back a full decade. The review found that roughly half of the Texas Guard soldiers who failed to meet the requirements of their re-enlistment bonus contracts owed the government the lion’s share of the money involved, a total of $3.18 million paid out from 2006-2008 — the peak of Iraq’s insurgency.
So far, 601 Texas Guard soldiers have submitted appeals, with around seven out of 10 prevailing, said Maj. Brian Hildebrand, the Guard’s education and incentives officer in charge of recruiting and retention.
The defense secretary’s order stopped collection activities for only three Texas Guard soldiers, all transfers from California. The one owing the most money, identified as “Soldier K,” is $30,000 in arrears after receiving funds for bonuses that should not have been given.
Hildebrand said the case is thought to have involved fraud, but had no details. The soldier received $20,000 from the Select Reserve Incentive Program and another $10,000 under the Officer Affiliation Bonus, and has repaid $510.
Another ex-California Guardsman, “Soldier D,” had been ineligible for a $20,000 enlistment bonus and has paid back less than half of it. That case did not appear to be fraudulent, he said.
The three from California are among eight Texas Guard soldiers who came from other states or the active-duty ranks and owed money to the government. As a group, they have paid about one-fifth of their debt. One former activeduty soldier who received bonuses totaling $15,157 transferred to Texas and still owes $12,495. Failed requirements
No one has been prosecuted for defrauding the Texas Guard. Recoupment actions were taken for failing to meet one or more requirements of bonus contracts. Most soldiers were targeted for reasons that include failing two consecutive physical training tests, misconduct leading to a discharge, voluntary retirement or failing to qualify for the job specialty for which a bonus was given.
In some cases, the guard did not demand repayment of bonuses. In others, it only went after bonuses for part of the time a soldier served.
There were other reasons for recoupment actions. More than 100 of the GIs who were asked to return bonus money had become officers or transferred to the activeduty Army. Dozens had traded their military jobs for a civilian position. Other National Guard organizations around the country also reported far fewer problems than were uncovered in California. Guard officials in New York, Illinois, Washington State and Connecticut told the Express-News they saw no evidence of fraud in their bonus re-enlistment programs.
The Texas Guard said the usual contract in the Select Reserve Incentive Program, which covers enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, was worth $5,000, with the max imum running four times that.