Originally Posted by Rochard

I read about this earlier this morning, and this is horrible.

It's very common for the military to give bonuses to it's members in order to retain them. In fact, my last six months in the military I worked for the 8th Marine Recruitment division, which was tasked with retaining Marines.

If I understand correctly, the Department of Defense (Pentagon) gave money to the California National Guard to retain people in certain jobs. The California National Guard used the money to retain people who didn't qualify, the Pentagon wants it's money back, and the California National Guard is trying to get the money back from the people who got the bonuses in the first - in some cases, nearly a decade later.

Imagine if someone gave you a bonus and then ten years later told you they wanted it back.

I do not understand how they legally have the right to ask for that money back, but someone along the line needs to stand up and say "We made a mistake" and straighten this out. These people served their nation and went to war for us; We cannot screw them for it years later.