Military Pay: Inadequate Controls for Stopping Overpayments of Hostile Fire and Hardship Duty Pay to Over 200 Sick or Injured Army National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers Assigned to Fort Bragg
Highlights
Over the past several years, we have reported on significant pay problems experienced by mobilized Army National Guard and Army Reserve (Army Guard and Reserve) soldiers in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack. These reports included examples of hundreds of soldiers receiving inaccurate and untimely payroll payments due to a paper-intensive, error-prone pay process and the lack of integrated pay and personnel systems. In response to our reports, the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken some action to improve controls designed to pay Army Guard and Reserve soldiers accurately and on time, especially those who had become sick or injured in the line of duty. This report responds to a Congressional request that we investigate the allegation that 37 Army Guard and Reserve soldiers assigned to the Medical Retention Processing Unit (MRPU) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were overpaid for hostile fire and hardship duty pay while in an outpatient status. Our objectives were to determine (1) whether the allegations were true, and if so, whether the pay issues were more widespread at Fort Bragg and (2) the key causes of the overpayments and the resulting impact on soldiers and their families.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Army | In conjunction with the Army's proactive efforts to improve Army Guard and Reserve pay account management, the Secretary of the Army, in conjunction with the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), should follow up with finance offices supporting the other 22 MRPUs that were not part of our investigation to determine the extent to which hostile fire and hardship duty overpayments to outpatient Army Guard and Reserve soldiers had occurred and ensure that appropriate corrective action is taken. This review should include the pay accounts for outpatient soldiers who had been or are currently assigned to MRPU units, including those soldiers with nonbattle injuries and other illness. |
During 2005, in the face of obsolete, non-integrated personnel, payroll, and medical systems and continuing delays in implementation of new integrated systems, the Army worked with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to develop and implement a Wounded-in-Action database to help identify and resolve soldier pay, travel reimbursement, and debt problems. The database uses weekly data calls from five Army systems to accumulate personnel, payroll, and medical status information. The Army has used this database to research and resolve payroll, travel reimbursement and military debt problems of hundreds of battle-injured soldiers, including soldiers at the Ft. Bragg Medical Retention Processing Unit (MRPU) as well as the other 22 MRPUs that were not part of our investigation.
|