Post from Jesse Singal's Blog:
Absolutely Infuriating
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Via reddit, a story you shouldn't read if you're in a good mood:

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.

[snip]

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.

I think (and would hope) this is the sort of thing that will be swiftly rectified once it receives enough media attention, which it will. Still though, a truly abominable, indefensible act by the Pentagon.


Reader Comments

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Bureaucracy.
By JBeacH Oct 5th 2007 at 1:04 pm EDT
I believe that this was done on purpose, but I suspect individual rather than conspiracy of high-level commanders. Likely for orders to go to 730 days or above, more authorization signatures are needed. Rather than go get the signatures, bureaucracies often just say; oh don't bother with that, just make it one day less. So this was likely below senior commanders radar. As long as corrected, this isn't like Abu Ghraib where senior commanders were responsible for what was going on (regardless of lack of action on that front).
  
Awful.
By Tanya Paperny Oct 5th 2007 at 1:47 pm EDT
I'm convinced that stuff like this happens all the time. Recruiters lie about eligibility rules, etc. See this article by a former marine:

"How do they lie about college benefits? They fail to tell you that you must pay 1200 dollars in your first year of the military in order to get the G.I. Bill, which is quite a chunk of money when your salary is only 700/mo. You will be lucky if you get your monthly G.I. Bill check in your first three months of college anyway, as the bureaucracy is so inept that you had better hope to have enough money saved up before you arrive. Another point recruiters leave out is that most students who are independent and over 25, civilians and veterans alike, are eligible for enormous amounts of financial aid anyway. That is, unless you already receive the G.I. Bill."

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