Ooops

Maybe they're there

$900,000 Paid to Army Reservists Who Deserted


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 29, 2006

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (AP) — The Pentagon has done little to recover about $900,000 mistakenly paid to 75 Army reservists who have not reported for duty since late 2001, Congressional investigators said in a report on Monday.

Fewer than two dozen of the deserters have surrendered or been arrested, the report said.

The report by the Government Accountability Office details continuing problems with the military payroll system, which has been consistently criticized as convoluted and error-prone, with repeated instances of troops being overpaid or underpaid.

The number of improper payments and the money involved was probably significantly understated, the investigators said. The report said the Army and the Army National Guard and Reserve had acknowledged being unaware of the extent of the problem because there is no system to track such records.

The G.A.O. first reported the payment errors in 2004. It contacted Pentagon officials again this year to determine whether the money had been repaid or the deserters found.

A Pentagon spokesman, Brian Maka, said officials were still reviewing the report and its recommendations.

Congressional auditors identified 75 soldiers in the Army National Guard and Reserve who were designated as deserters for failing to report for duty when their units were called up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jesus. They got paid? And didn't get caught?