UPDATED: What the federal government is demanding from California veterans will make you sick

UPDATE:

Good news!  Thanks to the public outcry, a great development:

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter instructed the Pentagon Wednesday to stop trying to take back bonuses from California National Guard troops, who earned these lump sum payments when they enlisted to deploy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

ORIGINAL:

Ten years ago, the California National Guard had an urgent mission: recruit as many new soldiers as possible to meet the Defense Department’s enlistment goals for the War on Terror. Thousands of brave men and women were enticed with sign-on bonuses of $15,000 and more and went on to serve their country with the extra security of a pocketful of money when they returned. But now, the Pentagon wants its money back.

From the LA Times:

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.

Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.

But soldiers say the military is reneging on 10-year-old agreements and imposing severe financial hardship on veterans whose only mistake was to accept bonuses offered when the Pentagon needed to fill the ranks.

And the individual stories hammer home the travesty of it all. For instance, Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain, and Purple Heart recipient for sustaining injuries from a roadside bomb, was forced to refinance his home in Manteca, California to repay his $25,000 reenlistment bonus plus a $21,000 student loan repayment the Army said he should’ve never received.

“People like me just got screwed,” he told the LA Times.

Former Army master sergeant and 2008 Afghanistan veteran Susan Haley, 47, feels “totally betrayed” by the government she gave 26 years of service to and fears she may have to sell her home to repay her sudden “debt” of $20,500. Currently, Haley sends the Pentagon $650 a month which amounts to a quarter of her family’s income, according to the Times.

“They’ll get their money, but I want those [six] years back,” she said of her reenlistment.

Then there’s Army Sergeant First Class Robert Richmond who suffers from permanent back and brain injuries from an exploded roadside bomb during one of hundreds of missions he carried out in Baghdad in 2007. Richmond said he was surprised to receive a letter in 2014 ordering him to repay the $15,000 bonus that helped him so much during a tough divorce. The Army said he received the money by mistake because he was ineligible due to his long military career.

So far, Richmond has refused to repay the bonus through several appeals, but the Treasury Department is breathing down his neck and attached interest and penalties making the total amount due nearly $20,000.

And the stories go on and on.

The California Guard said they’d be more than happy to “absolve these people of their debts” but insist they would be breaking the law if they did. Col. Michael S. Piazzoni said at the height of the War on Terror, the Pentagon switched gears and decided to pay the soldiers up front and then determine the eligibility of the recruits later. Though this scheme played out at stations across the nation, the bonuses were most liberally handed out in California.

As the Times reports, investigations into the improper payments began in 2010 and while a few officers have been charged, the real punishment is falling on the backs of soldiers:

Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guard’s incentive manager, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Three officers also pleaded guilty to fraud and were put on probation after paying restitution.

Instead of forgiving the improper bonuses, the California Guard assigned 42 auditors to comb through paperwork for bonuses and other incentive payments given to 14,000 soldiers, a process that was finally completed last month.

Roughly 9,700 current and retired soldiers have been told by the California Guard to repay some or all of their bonuses and the recoupment effort has recovered more than $22 million so far.

Because of protests, appeals and refusal by some to comply, the recovery effort is likely to continue for years.

Shame on our federal government for how they are treating these brave soldiers who gave up so much to defend our freedoms. This is a national tragedy.