US military admits investigation ruined soldiers’ lives — RT World News

The U.S. military mistakenly placed hundreds of participants in its National Guard and Reserve recruiting programs on a criminal watch list during an investigation into fraudulent recruiting bonuses, it revealed Thursday .

Some 1,900 names have been placed on the FBI’s Interstate Identification Index, a database of individual criminal histories that facilitates information sharing between federal and state law enforcement, during a four-year investigation by the Army’s Criminal Investigations Division into fraudulent payments for recruiting references. .

Recruiters were supposed to receive $2,000 for each new person they recruited, but as the program came under scrutiny, it was found that many were taking payments for recruits they didn’t. had never met. While the investigation punished 286 of these people with administrative sanctions and 137 were prosecuted, hundreds more were found to have committed no offense – and « proper procedures were not always followed” to clear their names afterwards.

The CID investigated more than 900 cases, finding that more than half required some sort of correction of the record. He hopes to have set all the records by the end of the year.

Unable to pass background checks, those affected could not be promoted within the military or obtain certain outside jobs, or purchase firearms or obtain security clearances. While the service encouraged anyone who believes they have been affected to reach out, the CID chief of staff declined to say whether victims would be financially compensated for misfortunes that happened to them as a result of the investigation.

CID director Gregory Ford told Stars & Stripes that while his agency isn’t sure why the names weren’t removed from the III when they were found not to be involved in the fraud scheme, the review in progress would also not determine what led to the confusion.

But after the Army missed its 2022 recruiting targets by 15,000 men, the worst shortfall since the military draft was abandoned, the National Guard is reportedly considering reinstating recruiting bonuses.

Officials attributed the lack of interest to increased attention to suicides and sexual harassment in the military, the vaccine mandate and financial issues.

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