WASHINGTON — The California National Guard can’t locate more than 4,000 of the 9,700 soldiers caught up in the military enlistment bonus scandal that has rocked one of the nation’s largest Guard organizations, according to its commander.
In an internal memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau, Maj. Gen. David Baldwin said the California Guard needed help finding thousands of soldiers who received improper enlistment bonuses or other incentives at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars a decade ago.
Baldwin also wrote that the vast majority of the 9,700 current and former California Guard soldiers who received improper payments did so “unknowingly” and enlisted “in good faith at a time of war.”
His Oct. 27 memo is one of the first unequivocal statements by a senior military official since the bonus scandal surfaced that most California Guard soldiers did not know they were getting money improperly. It suggests most may be eligible to have some or all of their debts forgiven under a Pentagon review.
But the new Pentagon inquiry already appears mired in confusion. Despite Baldwin’s assertions, the Treasury Department tracked down some of the 4,000 soldiers long ago through tax returns and forced them to repay their bonuses by wage garnishments and withholding Federal tax returns until the money was repaid.
Click here to read more the military enlistment bonus scandal and the claims of the California National Guard that it could not locate over 4,000 soldiers.
