Friendly Fire for Injured Troops
When you see the car bombs explode on TV there is a disconnect between what you see and the realization that the soldiers involved will be injured and/or disabled for the rest of their lives (or worse, making the ultimate sacrifice). So you would expect the military to look after these brave souls, to ensure that they can live comfortably for the rest of their lives, or in many cases, continue their military careers in a non-combat role (because many of them want to contribute, regardless of their injuries).
So the story in the Washington Post regarding Robert Loria, his left hand blown off but still stiffed with debt collection and bills, despite having to recover and readjust, is not typical but it is a shame (“Insult to Injury” as Wonkette puts it).
Part of the problem is that the government’s computerized pay system is designed to “maximize debt collection” and has operated without a way to keep bills from going to the wounded, Reid said. In the past seven months, a database of injured troops has been created to help prevent that. Now, he said, the goal is to make “a conscious decision . . . on the validity of that debt” in every case.
At the root of the problem is an outdated Defense Department computer system, which does not automatically link pay and personnel records. This creates numerous pay errors — and overpayments become debts, said Gregory D. Kutz, the GAO‘s managing director for forensic audits and special investigations. “They’ve been trying to modernize it since the mid-1990s,” he said. “They have been unsuccessful.”
Read more of this at The Washington Post »
There are currently no comments on this thread.