Staff Sergeant George T. Alexander, Jr. suffered injuries in an October 17, 2005 explosion in Iraq. He died of his sustained wounds on October 22, 2005 in San Antonio, TX near his home of Killeen, TX. Unfortunately, his death will be earmarked as the 2,000th United States soldier confirmed dead, serving in the War in Iraq. There have also been approximately 12,000 wounded soldiers who have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them now permanently disabled.

The U.S. military has called upon the media to refrain from making a political issue of the number of dead service members, but it is expected to remain a political hot potato on Capitol Hill. To wit, Staff Sergeant Alexander died on October 22, 2005 and it was not reported to the American people until October 25, 2005 as the administration wished to wait for the ratification of Iraqi votes on passage of the new Iraq constitution.

But the Pentagon as well as the costs associated with the War in Iraq has come under repeated scrutiny. The political haggling in the Congress over various defense appropriations and authorization bills, still yet to pass for Fiscal Year 2006, as well as the lack of oversight of the Pentagon�s database management system for personnel, have plagued some of the wounded troops returning stateside from both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Much has been reported over the past couple of years regarding deficiencies in body and vehicle armor for soldiers in the battlefield and of the families of soldiers who were supplying various pieces of protective equipment for their loved ones in the field. However, a recently revealed snafu in the system now includes the miscalculation of service members� paychecks. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the Congress, a recent audit disclosed that over 90% of Army Reserve and National Guard units have experienced some type of payroll error during the course of their deployment. As a direct result, the Pentagon has authorized collection agencies to contact military personnel whose pay was erroneously garnished.

Gregory D. Kutz, the GAO�s Managing Director for Forensic Audits and Special Investigations, has stated that the Department of Defense�s computer system that separates pay records from personnel data is outdated. �They�ve been trying to modernize it since the mid-1990�s. They have not been successful.�

To date there have been 331 wounded soldiers who have incurred debt. For example, Robert Loria of Middletown, NY, lost his hand in Iraq and lost the use of his legs for some time due to an explosion while serving in Tikrit, Iraq in 2003. He was sent to recover at Walter Reed Army Medical Center at such time he left the war zone. He remained at Walter Reed for 13 months. Upon returning stateside the Pentagon reduced his pay. Nine months later, Loria�s pay was garnished for a total of $6200.00. A collection agency started to call him just prior to his leaving the military demanding payment for $650.00 worth of military housing and several hundred dollars for equipment which could not be located after he was wounded, in addition to $2200.00 in travel expenses related to hospital aftercare treatment as well as vacation pay.

It was not until Loria brought his unfathomable problem to the attention of the GAO after his credit rating had been damaged, that members of Congress got involved. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) in October 2005 wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld requesting he �immediately suspend all collection efforts directed at wounded service members, whether still on active duty or released to the care of the Veteran�s health system.� Additionally, Representative Thomas Davis (R-VA) told the Washington Post in October 2005, �This is financial friendly fire.� Davis, Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform,  added, �It�s awful.� He termed the pay problems as systemic and that �pay problems have been an embarrassment all the way through the war.�

The crux of the problem is that the Pentagon�s computerized system for pay is set up to maximize debt collection and does not include a way to prevent such bills from going to the wounded according to G. Eric Reid, Director of the U.S. Army Finance Command. So far, the military is in the process of eliminating the debts of 99 of the 331 wounded. However, earlier in the year 129 wounded, still active in the military, were identified with debts. Fortunately, those have been resolved, but without a way to pinpoint the total number of wounded active-duty troops, debts remain on their records.

As the War in Iraq has proceeded since 2003 with no finite date of withdrawal, and with nearly 50% of those deployed consisting of Reserve and Guard members, many database problems regarding benefits and pay were not anticipated. Similarly, the $50 billion allocated by Congress to run the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through March of 2006 to be formally signed over to the Pentagon by Thanksgiving, exactly how the funds will be spent remains unclear.

With the War in Iraq alone costing approximately $6 billion per month and in Afghanistan another $1 billion per month, the GAO has also cited that the Pentagon�s financial records are in shambles. �Neither DoD nor Congress can reliably know how much the war is costing,� according to a September 21, 2005 GAO report. And with that comes a lack of assurance that Pentagon purchased weapons and equipment will be delivered on time for troops in the field. Also of note, the GAO reported that the �lack of accountability results in waste of billions of dollars annually.� The Senate Appropriations Committee has acknowledged that the amounts included in the $50 billion dollars although specified by category, are �estimates� according to past cost structuring and �detailed discussions� with officials at the Pentagon.

And while the Pentagon and the Congress continue to deliberate on when to release funds and which contractors to hire while soldiers in the battle zone continue to wait for redesigned body armor and armored Humvee vehicles, they additionally continue to become victims of antiquated computers systems and oversight, as they transition back to civilian life or with a continued military career. Complacency and inertia in a time of war with only down payment guarantees will no longer suffice for the indefinite sustenance and well-being of our military service members. Indeed, they are owed far more as they place their lives on the line for the American people.

Copyright by Diane M. Grassi

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