CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS WON'T HAVE TO REPAY BONUSES

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Update October 26, 2016: Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered a halt to this action, so  California National Guard members won't have to payback bonuses paid out erroneously years ago. President Barack Obama applauded Carter's decision. Read more.

East County News Service

October 24, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – California National Guard soldiers have been ordered to pay back reenlistment bonuses paid a decade ago, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The bonuses of $15,000 or more  were offered to encourage reenlistment.  The Pentagon intended those bonuses to retain experts in intelligence and other high in demand services during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But a federal investigation found that California’s National Guard offered bonuses to some people who did not qualify—and now the government is demanding that the soldiers foot the bill.

If the 10,000 soldiers, who were ordered to repay enlistment bonuses refuse or cannot make the hefty payments, they’ll be charged interest, wage garnishments and get tax liens, the Times reports.


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