A shameful way to 'support the troops'

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The 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard recently ended a 22-month tour of duty in Iraq, the longest deployment of any ground-combat unit in the Armed Forces. Many of its members returned home, looking forward to using education benefits under the GI bill.

For example, John Hobot, a platoon leader, said, "I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home."

It's not working that way. The Guard troops have been told that in order to be eligible for the education benefits they expect, they had to serve 730 days in Iraq. They served 729.

Nearly half the members of one of the longest serving U.S. military units in Iraq are not eligible for a more generous military educational benefit, with some falling one day short of eligibility. [...]

All 2,600 of the soldiers, who returned this year from Iraq, are eligible for money for school under the GI Bill. But nearly half discovered they weren't eligible for a more generous package of benefits available to other soldiers.


Minnesota's congressional delegation is apoplectic, and the Army has vowed to look into the matter, but the troops are understandably suspicious that they were deliberately brought home after 729 days so the Pentagon could deny them GI Bill benefits.

Keep an eye on this one.

Wow, that's ridiculous...but not at all surprising from our government.

the longest deployment but 1 day short. nothing surprises me anymore

Those sneaky bastids... i'm writing my congressman about this right away...

They're already trying to fix it.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1460969.html

It's like one day I woke up in another country. . the neo-cons had invaded and were an occupying force. Not a shot fired and we were conquered.

I have been chatting with people exiled from Burma. . .they are so touching they put such trust in the United Nations - which is such a slender reed to lean on. They ask me if Mr. Bush is going to help. . that Laura Bush has an old college roomate that is very active with Burma. .
that is heartbreaking to think they trust that nice Mr. Bush to help

Merle

Its the Catch 22 trick in another guise!

A bomber crew must fly X amount of missions before it can rotate out. But just as you get to one short of X...

They make X ten bigger.

So you fly 9 more, and are looking forward to rotating out...

And they make X ten more bigger.

Suspicious that it was deliberate? OF COURSE it was deliberate. Nobody fine tunes things that well by accident.

They should become 2.600 registered voters who clean some legislative seats in the next elections. They already have the start of an organization, just extend it using the web.

That is so sad! This government is really screwed up! Whether you support the war in Iraq or not, you have to support the troops, they are fighing for us! The government sends them their, lies about how long they gotta stay and then screws um when they get home, thats dirty. We really need to change things at home so these kinds of wars dont occure in the 1st place. Soldures are not simply tools of war they are human beings, and to just 'use' them in stupid conflicts, keep them away from their families in a hopeless situation and then screw um over 24 hrs is shaimful, a discrace to the American flag, and im sure our forfathers are turning in their graves.

That's BS. These people fought for this country. The LEAST we can do is give them education benefits if they served 729 of 730 days. It's a no-brainer.

After serving 6 years in the Army I can tell you; If they had planned it that way, it wouldn't have worked. Everything is late in the army.