They say no good deed goes unpunished, and this is just the latest example.
Ten years ago, California (as was true of many other states as well) was having difficulty filling the ranks of the California National Guard. So they tried did something to make service more attractive: they offered large enlistment bonuses. It was effective, and many enlisted as a result.
Ten years later, Pentagon auditors determined that the bonuses paid to enlistees exceeded Pentagon guidelines, so in typical bureaucratic fashion, instead of going after the state of California to recoup their funds, they are pursuing collection actions against veterans, men and women who enlisted in good faith, who served their country in Afghanistan and Iraq, who honored their commitment and their contract. And they are literally driving some into insolvency.
This is both immoral and unethical, and this latest attack on our veterans must stop.
The following link will take you to a petition asking the Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, to rein in the Pentagon, to order them to cease and desist their collection activities against our veterans and to make whole those who have suffered harm because of it, and to direct their collection activities against the parties that truly bear responsibility - the State of California and the California National Guard:
Stop Forced Veteran Enlistment Repayments!
