Bad ideas 101

[unixronin]

January 2005:  The Pentagon offers a $15,000 bonus to National Guard and Army Reserve members who agree to extend their enlistments by six years.

April 2005:  On the orders of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon reneges on the promise.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, confirmed the bonuses had been canceled, saying they violated Pentagon policies because they duplicated other programs.  She said Guard and Reserve members would be eligible for other bonuses.

Krenke said some soldiers had been paid the re-enlistment bonuses, but she was unsure how many or whether the money would have to be repaid.  Murray’s office said that as far as it knew, no active Guard or Reserve members had received the bonuses.

A Murray spokeswoman, Alex Glass, said Krenke’s explanation was unacceptable.

“They can spin it anyway they want,” Glass said.  “But this is a promise they are trying to explain away.”

The bonus offer was part of the Pentagon’s effort to retain Guard and Reserve members at a time of declining enlistments in the regular Army.

Army officials have said they face the toughest recruiting climate since 1973, when the draft was dropped and replaced with an all-volunteer military.

Roughly 3,400 members of the Washington National Guard’s 81st Armor Brigade were serving in Iraq at the time the bonuses were offered.

The bonuses were tax-free because they involved soldiers stationed overseas.

“As in the private sector, bonuses are quite effective in keeping talented people with high demand skills,” Krenke said in an e-mail response to questions.

Murray, a leading Capitol Hill critic of management of the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs, said she didn’t know why the bonuses were dropped but suspected it was connected to the tight federal budget.

And further down,

In a two-paragraph reply to Murray, Donna Warren, the National Guard Bureau’s congressional liaison, said the bonus program had been scrubbed by order of the Office of Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.  Warren said it had been discovered that Defense Department regulations prohibited such bonuses, but she offered no elaboration.

Well, perhaps they should have looked into that in a bit more detail before they offered them?  Reneging on the deal later citing administrative technicalities is shabby, at best.

 

I note that historically, it has been a very bad idea to hire mercenaries (which, remember, basically means "people paid to fight for you") and then refuse to pay them.  Historically, in fact, the usual thing that happens is they turn on you and sack you to get their pay.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I note that historically, it has been a very bad idea to hire mercenaries (which, remember, basically means "people paid to fight for you") and then refuse to pay them. Historically, in fact, the usual thing that happens is they turn on you and sack you to get their pay.

Please, oh, please, oh, please?

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

that would so rock!

As long as they don't sack the White House

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

They can sack Duh's ranch all they like, or the Pentagon, but the White House is a nice old building, and has art and artifacts in it worthy of respect. They should also avoid the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.

Re: As long as they don't sack the White House

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

I don't want'em to sack the house. Just the current owner. As in, those responsible[sic] have been sacked. Pink-slipped. Cashiered. Working for Pat Turner.

Hah

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

Note that this bonus only applied to Guard and Reservists. The Active Duty folks have been re-upping in record numbers. They believe in their mission, and they're kinda fed up with the bullshit in the mainstream media giving a distorted view of their progress. Guard/Reservists aren't used to the long deployments, and typically have higher standards of living than active folks, and so lose more on deployments (kid brother, on the other hand, has been living a pretty spartan lifestyle on active duty, and is going to be putting his entire paycheck in the bank/investments while on deployment, no rent to pay, and his housing allowance is more than his truck payment and insurance. And at least it's not as cold as Ranger School was, he got some pretty nasty frostbite in Dahlonega).

Re: Hah

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Still, it pretty much sucks to promise Guardies and reservists a $15k bonus to re-up for another six years, then take it back after they've signed. I would consider them technically within their rights if they chose to declare their re-enlistments null and void because the Pentagon breached the contract terms it promised them, and I'd bet it'd stand up in court.