The Warring States of NPF - Longest-serving troops in Iraq deliberately denied benefits

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Longest-serving troops in Iraq deliberately denied benefits

Click and vomit.

Quote:

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (NBC) -- When they came home from Iraq, 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard had been deployed longer than any other ground combat unit. The tour lasted 22 months and had been extended as part of President Bush's surge.

1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.

"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."

Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.

Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.

"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.

That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.

"I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said.

Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730. Now, six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it -- So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."

Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home.

"I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon.

Senators Klobuchar and Coleman released a joint statement saying the Army secretary, Pete Geren, is looking into this personally, and they say Geren asked a review board to expedite its review so the matter could be solved by next semester.

Minnesota National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said the soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice."

It's like saying someone who worked 39 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds didn't work full time. Only instead of stocking shelves they were risking their lives for their country.

Once again my faith in the bureaucracy proves valid. When numbers mean more than lives and commitments things need to change.

Meanwhile we're paying mercenaries twelve hundred dollars per day to treat Iraq like a shooting gallery.

I really feel the urge to make a biting sarcastic comment about how the Bush admnistration 'supports the troops' or something but honestly it's just too sad and wrong to joke about.

The thing that really sickens me is that some finance officer brought up this loophole to his boss and probably got a healthy bonus for finding a way to save money on the war effort.

God, those fucking sneaky bastards! But obviously this won't be left alone as long as the Minnesota National Guard keeps this public, the government has got to eventually give them their dues. Right? Right?!

This GI Bill nonsense isn't anything new, I'm sad to report. My older brother served in the army for most of the 90's and had the same thing happen to him at the end of his term of service. He was supposed to receive $1,000 per month in educational benefits when he enrolled in classes, but they only sent him $300. When he had to drop out due to lack of finances the Army demanded he reimburse them. He still hasn't been able to wring the money out of their tightly clenched fists.

This sounds like a scheme some middle manager in the Pentagon bueracracy looking to save money cooked up and passed under the radar, rather than a major government conspiracy. I don't see how these guys won't receive their benefits eventually, though obviously right now would have been a whole lot better.

I'm simultaneously both impressed and revolted with this story. Impressed because on paper it seems like a great way for a bureaucrat to save money, and revolted that they would actually go through with it after everything the troops have went through.

Being Canadian naturally I can't really comment on the state of American politics, because that would be unfair, but it seems to me that your upper management is DELIBERATELY trying to piss off like, what? 300,000 people trained in the use of firearms, explosives, and artillery.....
Does anyone else think that that's a REALLY bad idea?

On a side note, I think they'll definately get their money. Making things public like that is the fastest way to make any government official eat his foot in order to stay in whatever office they're pining for..

Heh, come on guys, you never been in the military?

People are the least important element, no matter what the fucking recruiting commercials tell you. I've been fucked out of so much money that's rightfully mine it's just disgusting. Don't even mention the time and danger, no one gives a shit that you risked your life for something you used to believe in, they just want you to behave like a good little robot and shut the fuck up about your needs and desires.

Seriously, fuck the military.

sorry, I probably don't have much constructive to add, too personal. I'll just shut up now. :D