Oregon National Guardsmen denied promised sign-up bonuses

Soldier’s bonus denied by Ore. National Guard
By Jonathan J. Cooper - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 16, 2011 11:29:36 EDT
SALEM, Ore. — Pfc. Chelsea Wells says the National Guard told her it was short on intelligence analysts when she agreed to be one in 2007. She signed a contract calling for a $20,000 signing bonus — half after she completed training, half after three years.

The military, though, turned down her request for the second half. Also, it wants the first half back. The Guard now says the position didn’t qualify for a bonus on the date she signed her contract.

“I submitted for it three times,” she told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. “Each time they’ve denied it.”

An aide to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican who got involved in Wells’ case when she contacted him, said there are at least five other Oregon soldiers in a similar situation.

Walden called it “shameful,” and “a horrible way to treat these young people who signed up to serve their country.”
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Soldier’s bonus denied by Ore. National Guard