Pentagon suspends claw-back of decade-old enlistment bonuses

The Pentagon is halting efforts to claw back recruitment bonuses paid out a decade ago to enlist troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced today, responding to public outrage.
Nearly 10,000 California National Guard members were being ordered to pay back at least USD 15,000 each in bonuses used as inducements during recruitment drives to overcome a troop shortage.
The national guard members would have faced interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse to comply.
The Pentagon sought repayments after audits found the California National Guard had overpaid troops in an effort to meet enlistment targets

The plight of the guard members, revealed over the weekend by the Los Angeles Times, ignited a firestorm of criticism by members of Congress and others.
"I have ordered the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to suspend all efforts to collect reimbursement from affected California National Guard members, effective as soon as is practical," Carter said in a statement.

"This suspension will continue until I am satisfied that our process is working effectively."
He noted that "many" soldiers did not know they were ineligible for the benefits they were claiming "as a result of errors and in some cases criminal behavior by members of the California National Guard."

"I want to be clear: this process has dragged on too long, for too many service members," Carter said in a statement.
"Too many cases have languished without action. That's unfair to service members and to taxpayers."
Carter said he has ordered a team led by the Pentagon's personnel chief Peter Levine to come up with "a streamlined, centralized process that ensures the fair and equitable treatment of our service members and the rapid resolution of these cases" by January 1.