The National Guard is behind paying at least 9,000 soldiers the bonuses they were promised for signing up, according to a service component source with direct knowledge of the situation, with some soldiers and their families telling Military.com that payments have been missing for years.
The delays are so severe that Guard officials are tracking an additional 3,900 soldiers who completed their service and left the military without getting any bonus payment, though some may have lost eligibility.
“I was really relying on this money to help with moving into a new place with my wife,” one soldier said, while explaining that the first half of his $20,000 enlistment bonus was a year overdue. “I did my end of things, and this is a really bad introduction to the Army, not taking care of people.”
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The bonuses are a key part of the Army National Guard's pitch: Do part-time service and the occasional deployment in exchange for many of the benefits tied to serving in the military. Hefty enlistment bonuses, often as high as $20,000, are meant to sweeten the deal.
Soldiers are typically supposed to receive the first payment of their enlistment bonuses after completing initial service training. The National Guard considers payments late if more than 30 days have elapsed since training was completed and no…
