Video: Pentagon backpedals furiously on denying bonuses to wounded vets
posted at 8:52 pm on November 20, 2007 by Allahpundit
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I’m proud that we were able to play a tiny part in sending this story national. Laura Ingraham’s interviewing Jordan Fox on the Factor as I write this; if this clip is to be believed, he may be turning up on H&C later, too. The Pentagon’s already dropped its demand that he repay $3,000 of his bonus, claiming feebly that it was a “mistake” — even though hundreds of wounded vets are apparently still on the hook, which is the whole reason Jason Altmire needed to introduce a bill in the first place. A little less disgraceful than it was last night but still an abject disgrace. Click the image to watch.
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I would expect Gates to say something on this soon.
bnelson44 on November 20, 2007 at 8:57 PM
I don’t think this will surprise many vets. We’ve all got some stories about idiotic policies the paper pusher types in the military can come up with.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 8:58 PM
This will be taken care of. The Pentagon can’t take the scrutiny this will bring. Thanks AP for your part and I’m sure the grunts in the trenches would thank you too.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 9:01 PM
Where is Boosh hiding?
Wade on November 20, 2007 at 9:02 PM
Heh! I’m sure that will come up but I assure you that this is something that’s totally non-partisan and apolitical. Idiocy of this magnitude can only come from some mid level desk jockey who’s job is counting pencils.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 9:05 PM
Or from congress.
Forgot that part.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 9:05 PM
Might have been “cute” if they tied it to the democrats witholding money. Either way, they are doing the obviously right thing.
SouthernGent on November 20, 2007 at 9:06 PM
I thought Ingraham said on The Factor that the Pentagon wouldn’t comment on Fox case, no?
JetBoy on November 20, 2007 at 9:06 PM
I think she said that they wouldn’t talk to them specifically. That’s because they are doing damage control now and getting their story straight.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Ah.. but they refuse to comment on possibly thousands of other similar cases. This isn’t over until Congress passes legislation that clarifies these wounded solders don’t owe the government squat.
Maxx on November 20, 2007 at 9:15 PM
He’s lucky Murtha hasn’t trashed his reputation to boot.
TheSitRep on November 20, 2007 at 9:16 PM
So excellent if this pans out well,I know liberal’s want
cradle to grave coverage,but this to be is way different,
this is the United States Military,if a soldier is wounded,
or disabled,I want this soldier to be taken care of,his rent,food,heat,electricity,if a Military family(G!d forbid)
loses their mom,or dad,especially in combat,there is no
other sacrifice to lose a loved one,I want that Military
family taken care of period.
canopfor on November 20, 2007 at 9:22 PM
Can I take a bow ?
William Amos on November 20, 2007 at 9:23 PM
This is a disgrace. Bush should get out front on this immediately and stop it. No excuse not to. All those vets should get their money back or not have to pay it back period.
I want to know what was in the mind of the moron who sent letters to the wounded demanding money in the first place. What was in their mind? How could anyone do such a thing to a wounded soldier?
katieanne on November 20, 2007 at 9:24 PM
what or who i want to know is when was this whole scheme cooked up?
vets, all vets, should be treated with the utmost respect we can give them. To find out uncle sam is dissen em, too much….
jojostan on November 20, 2007 at 9:24 PM
Ah, ok.
JetBoy on November 20, 2007 at 9:25 PM
I wonder who will be fired for this debacle.
Bush was busy pardoning a dumb cluck instead of pardoning those border guards. Hope
thehis turkey makes him sick.DannoJyd on November 20, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Can I take a bow?
William Amos on November 20,2007 at 9:23PM
William Amos:Yes,either Michelle needs to put you
on the payroll,or I suggested on another
thread,where’s your Hot Air T-shirt and
cap.Hehe
canopfor on November 20, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Absolutely no one will be fired! It’s just the military, after all! I wonder how many of our wounded soldiers who could not complete their missions because of their injuries had their bonuses taken away - there have gotten to be lots of them before this came to light. I don’t expect Laura or Hotair to be satisfied with this answer in this particular case. There should be a thorough investigation.
Neocon Peg on November 20, 2007 at 9:38 PM
BTW, Kudos, William Amos!
Neocon Peg on November 20, 2007 at 9:39 PM
Get the pencil neck geek that thought up that screwball idea and send them packing for the private sector and see how long they last in the real world.
Kini on November 20, 2007 at 9:40 PM
BTW Fox and Friends had this as well. Video is on my site
here
William Amos on November 20, 2007 at 9:48 PM
Of course! I’ll give you a standing ovation. Ya done good! Should have thanked you in my previous post. Sorry.
Oldnuke on November 20, 2007 at 9:48 PM
Hurray to Laura for making this a big deal on the highest rated cable news show. This deserves a lot of attention. No doubt this was an oversight by an administrative lackey, but it is truly a disgraceful shame and needs to be changed.
thedecider on November 20, 2007 at 11:01 PM
The problem with the military at this time is all the civilians. They just don’t care about the troops. If it doesn’t affect them, then it is not a priority. Now, the Federal Times indicates that the DOD is going to start replacing generals with senior level employees that were promoted and don’t have jobs. Shameful!!!
Claimsratt on November 20, 2007 at 11:17 PM
Good grief…this is like taking credit for your kid pulling his hand away from a hot stove. There’s really no ‘there’ there.
This was NOT a policy invented by some ‘paper pusher’ to cash in on these wounded vets when they were discharged. It was a normal policy to recoup enlistment bonuses when the individual left of their own accord or were booted for cause, and the medical discharges got caught up in it because someone didn’t apply the exception to this policy that they qualified for.
It was a bureaucratic foulup that would’ve been settled on its own eventually, not some nefarious plot that needed the hyperventilation of the press and (since you’re assigning credit here) people at Hot Air.
James on November 20, 2007 at 11:33 PM
Still Im glad we did the fight instead of asking these wounded Vets to do the fighting again. I cant take back their wounds but I can fight when I feel they havent been treated fairly. Sometimes all it takes is getting the news out there and the people will stand up and make it right.
I took a bow but they get all the credit
William Amos on November 20, 2007 at 11:42 PM
I would say it would depend. If the solder was offered a duty assignment but chose an voluntary option of discharge, I would have no problem asking for the cash back. But if the discharge was involuntary, then I say the soldier should keep it.
crosspatch on November 21, 2007 at 12:35 AM
You seem to have a lot of confidence in a bureaucracy being able to fix their mistakes.
How long should any injured veteran have to wait for this to be fixed “eventually”?
If it is being collected, it is possible this type of collection could be added to their taxes, or their VA or military medical disability could be reduced by X amount until it is repaid.
Considering there were many who got these notices, it appears it wasn’t getting fixed “eventually”.
As for it getting fixed, I don’t have much faith in Altmire’s bill unless it provides specifics on how the wounded veterans should be able to either stop the collection, or recover what was already taken.
I envision these veterans getting caught in a paperwork nightmare of filling out forms, sending them to some nameless person who couldn’t care less about it, and it taking months for anything to happen…if at all.
I have seen it before with wounded/injured soldiers.
As for veterans of previous actions trying to recover bonuses that were collected, or were never paid, the language of the bill would likely cover this. Veterans legislation almost always covers how veterans of other era’s might be covered under the new legislation. Think of the GI Bill. It provides more of a benefit now than it did just 10 years ago. The legislation addresses veterans from previous era’s in disallowing them from the newer and more generous benefit.
91Veteran on November 21, 2007 at 1:14 AM
Question: How many vets have already returned the money and how soon can they expect to be paid back (with interest)?
Ok…Two more questions: Has this happened to other vets of previous wars such as Gulf War I and can they expect a refund (with interest) as well?
Who’s side will Murtha and Durbin choose?
.
GT on November 21, 2007 at 7:18 AM
Yeah, I do…my pay depends on it every 15 days. It can take some time, but eventually things get straightened out…IF the individual servicemember bothers to educate himself on the proper procedures.
You should know that the finance system is notoriously uncaring…IF you haven’t done your own homework. The ‘I don’t knows’ I heard in the interviews tell me he hadn’t. Of course, if everything goes right nobody but the finance guys have to know the regs…but at the end of the day it’s his pay, not theirs.
James on November 21, 2007 at 7:19 AM
What a great idea! Some poor grunt who’s had his leg shot off should occupy himself digging through all the finance regs so he can protect himself from some disbursing clerk’s SNAFU.
Yeah, we do know that. That’s the point of most of the posts on this thread.
I guess he was too busy getting shot at to be overly concerned about his “Homework”. Yeah, that was pretty stupid on his part.
And at the end of the day it’s the wounded vet’s lost arm/leg/eye/ etc. not some pasty faced disbursing clerk’s. The wounded guy should not have to be worring about this type of B/S.
Oldnuke on November 21, 2007 at 7:49 AM
Yes, that’s about right. Self-reliance can be wonderfully therapeutic. For example, my father and uncle were both Vietnam vets. My dad, though he died just a few years later from it, bothered himself to work through his disability and get the benefits to which he was entitled. His remaining years were normal. My uncle, on the other hand, never got over feeling sorry for himself, never applied for benefits, and to this day sponges off of my grandmother’s Social Security because he didn’t want to straighten out his finances with the Marine Corps.
No, the point of most of the posts on this thread have been ‘they intentionally did this to him,’ ‘typical…somebody probably got a medal for saving money,’ or ‘evil, evil military…won’t somebody please DO SOMETHING?’ or other ‘but…think of the children‘-type posts, not a single one has understood that just because this guy was wounded and disabled it didn’t make him any less of a man who should be capable of taking care of himself.
No, but he had plenty of time after he found out about the reimbursement request…enough time to prepare for TV appearances, anyway.
Nice. Going out to the ‘Support The Troops, But Not The Pasty Face Ones’ rally this afternoon?
James on November 21, 2007 at 8:26 AM
The Pentagon has now established a hot line number for veterans to call who may be affected by this. The number is 1-800-984-8523
LakeRuins on November 21, 2007 at 8:43 AM
Bureaucracy is as much a part of warfare as weapons are. It’s just a fact of military life. It was that way a thousand years ago, and it will probably be that way a thousand years from now.
To call a SNAFU like this one “disgraceful” is to say the same thing about the existence of armies: It’s not right or wrong; it’s just completely pointless.
I’m sure some pencil-pusher was doing his job and following regulations; and I’m equally sure those regulations seemed like a good idea at the time they were written.
Try to straighten out this mess and then move on to the next one, and the next, and the one after that…. But for crying out loud, it’s silly to act like this is some kind of crime of the century.
logis on November 21, 2007 at 11:15 AM
I absolutely agree with that statement. Doesn’t make it any easier to stomach when it pops up.
Right again, both counts. It’s when somebody decided to apply the rule to a situation that doesn’t merit it that I have a problem with.
Not the crime of the century, but the brass needs to feel the heat. If they don’t this sort of thing will go unchallenged.
Oldnuke on November 21, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Yep, and that seems to be working out for him. Cut through a crap load of red tape didn’t it.
Hmmm, either you’ve been reading posts I can’t see or you are taking them way out of context. And just so you know he seems to be taking care of himself, just not through the system.
Oldnuke on November 21, 2007 at 1:54 PM