Guard Members Told To Repay Bonuses

The Defense Department is telling more than 10,000 members who served in the state’s National Guard to repay thousands dollars in reenlistment bonuses. The Los Angeles Times reported Oct. 22 that the service members were wrongly given the enlistment bonuses about 10 years ago, in order to retain them during the height of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pentagon investigators have determined that California Guard officials acted fraudulently, with a lack of oversight, when they handed out the bonuses in an effort to meet accession and retention goals.