Bill Dispute May Void Guard Recruits’ Contracts

National Guard recruits whose enlistments hinge upon payment of enlistment bonuses will not have to abide by their contracts if the pending 2008 defense bill does not include provisions to pay them. President Bush returned the bill to Capitol Hill unsigned in late December, urging lawmakers to remove a provision that would freeze Iraqi assets held in the U.S. While the bill is stalled, recruiters find themselves telling their prospects that the bonuses – in many cases, the key reasons why some join the Guard – will not be available until Congress and the White House resolve their differences. “There is no [state] adjutant general that will hold [recruits] responsible for something that we told them that didn’t happen,” said Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, the director of the Army Guard. “They [state AGs] have a lot of flexibility to turn around and let them go if they renege on a promise.”