thedrifter
05-23-07, 11:11 AM
Lawmaker: Combat pay cheating must stop
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 10:14:52 EDT
A senior lawmaker wants to launch a major congressional investigation of what he sees as fraudulent claims for combat pay and benefits by people making only brief trips into a war zone.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee, accuses midgrade and senior service members of planning trips into Iraq and Afghanistan that have little or no practical purpose other than to qualify them for a month’s worth of danger pay and combat zone tax exclusions.
“I am outraged,” he said in a Tuesday interview. “This has got to stop. There are people out there being shot at every day for real, not for some made-up reason. There are people cheating, and they know who they are if they are making up reasons to visit the war zone just for the benefits.
“I am talking here about honor. How much is your honor worth?” he said. “If you went in a combat zone just for the pay on a made-up mission, it is not the same thing as being in a combat zone.”
Currently, service members qualify for a month of danger pay if they spend any amount of time in a combat zone, even just a few minutes. They can also qualify in some areas simply by flying through the airspace over a combat zone — even at heights well above the level that ground fire could reach.
At Abercrombie’s urging, the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill includes a provision ordering the Defense Department to restructure imminent danger pay, a $225 a month benefit, so it is not available for those making short jaunts into a danger zone. This would be done by paying a daily rate or by setting a minimum number of days before a person becomes eligible.
In addition to the new danger pay policy, Abercrombie said he wants the armed services committee, probably through its oversight and investigations subcommittee, to carefully study military records to determine how many trips into the combat zone are not justified.
Abercrombie said he knows there is a problem, but he doesn’t know if it is big or small.
“Clearly, there is a culture thing here where some people don’t see this as wrong, but it is wrong. I know what is cheating and what isn’t. This is cheating. I am disappointed and sad. What that means is that while we are here talking, somebody is dying in Iraq while somebody else is scheming how to make up a trip to the Green Zone for the weekend so they can buy a new pickup truck.”
Ellie
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 10:14:52 EDT
A senior lawmaker wants to launch a major congressional investigation of what he sees as fraudulent claims for combat pay and benefits by people making only brief trips into a war zone.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee, accuses midgrade and senior service members of planning trips into Iraq and Afghanistan that have little or no practical purpose other than to qualify them for a month’s worth of danger pay and combat zone tax exclusions.
“I am outraged,” he said in a Tuesday interview. “This has got to stop. There are people out there being shot at every day for real, not for some made-up reason. There are people cheating, and they know who they are if they are making up reasons to visit the war zone just for the benefits.
“I am talking here about honor. How much is your honor worth?” he said. “If you went in a combat zone just for the pay on a made-up mission, it is not the same thing as being in a combat zone.”
Currently, service members qualify for a month of danger pay if they spend any amount of time in a combat zone, even just a few minutes. They can also qualify in some areas simply by flying through the airspace over a combat zone — even at heights well above the level that ground fire could reach.
At Abercrombie’s urging, the House version of the 2008 defense authorization bill includes a provision ordering the Defense Department to restructure imminent danger pay, a $225 a month benefit, so it is not available for those making short jaunts into a danger zone. This would be done by paying a daily rate or by setting a minimum number of days before a person becomes eligible.
In addition to the new danger pay policy, Abercrombie said he wants the armed services committee, probably through its oversight and investigations subcommittee, to carefully study military records to determine how many trips into the combat zone are not justified.
Abercrombie said he knows there is a problem, but he doesn’t know if it is big or small.
“Clearly, there is a culture thing here where some people don’t see this as wrong, but it is wrong. I know what is cheating and what isn’t. This is cheating. I am disappointed and sad. What that means is that while we are here talking, somebody is dying in Iraq while somebody else is scheming how to make up a trip to the Green Zone for the weekend so they can buy a new pickup truck.”
Ellie