Why do Guard pay problems persist?

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Shameful.

That's the only way to describe persistent compensation problems faced by Iowans serving in the National Guard.

Guard members getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan shouldn't have to think twice about whether their paychecks will come through.

But that's exactly what some troops say is going on: payroll snafus that give them reason to doubt whether their families will be provided for while they're overseas.

It's not the first time that Guard members have been victims of bureaucratic red tape.

First, Iowa Guard members had to fight to receive respite pay they were owed for serving tours of overseas duty longer than 12 months. Then, there was the GI Bill “blind spot” that provided only certain Guard members money for college tuition, housing stipends, books and supplies.

These compensation mess-ups reflect poorly on our military's treatment of Iowans and their families who are making sacrifices and taking risks much bigger than most of us ever will.

Even more, it's bad business that threatens our national security.

Why enlist, after all - why devote your life and your family to this country, why put everything on the line to serve - if the people in charge don't respect you enough to even bother paying you what you're owed?

Military officials must waste no time investigating and fixing payroll problems affecting the Guard.

Iowa National Guard members training in Fort Irwin, Calif., recently told a Gazette reporter that they're not receiving the pay they're owed. Soldiers of different rank and from different units told the reporter they weren't receiving the money they're owed and they're not sure why.

Military leaders say pay issues aren't unusual when units mobilize. Missing documents and incorrect forms are just two reasons why soldiers may have pay issues.

Leaders told The Gazette they investigate every soldier's complaint, and soldiers agree that they generally are resolved - eventually. Not good enough. The process should go more smoothly in the first place.

As Pfc. Andrew Anderson, 22, of Marion, told the reporter: “It's hard to keep your focus on the mission at hand when you're worried about putting food on your table back home.”

As another soldier phrased it, pay issues are a “slap in the face” to the men and women who fight for our freedom. Dealing with military red tape is a distraction they can ill afford.

“I want to be able to keep my son in day care and put food on my table,” Spc. Seth McDaniel, 25, of Cedar Rapids, told the reporter. “I want my fiancee to be able to get to work and to have gas in the car. I'm not asking for a lot.”

McDaniel and other Guard members shouldn't have to ask at all.