Posted: 5/6/2012 4:39:37 PM EDT
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We had an Army Captain stop in the gun store last week. Said he just got back from A-stan. Had a nice chat with him about what was going on there.
He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. He said that the guys were really mad, and that morale was in the basement. He told me that his SgtMaj told him that the guys were talking about refusing to go outside the wire for any reason if their pay was fucked up for a 3rd pay period. No pay, no play. Anybody here heard any stuff like this? I find it VERY disturbing that our .gov doesn't have the money to pay our troops. WTF is going on in Washington that could result in this happening? |
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When the debt limit was a big problem, there were concerns that payments wouldn't be made, but as far as I know everyone received their paycheck as normal. Now a unit problem could cause payments to be missed, lost, etc if someone really screws the pooch.
Kharn Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
Did you miss the thread with this in it?  I've heard of pay getting screwed up...but never missing actual paychecks. One would think that would make news......... ETA: Sure he didn't just mean combat pays, sep pays, etc? That wouldn't be shocking...4 weeks with no pay, there'd literally be wives on the steps of the Capital about that point... |
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Long ago had a PSG stop getting his pay. 2 months he didn't get any pay. 2 months he didn't go outside the wire. It was all a pay snafu, but just for him seeing as the Army and dfas decided he had gotten out of the Army and forgot to tell him about it  We had a Lieutenant get screwed over by DFAS because they thought he was dead. No bullshit. 
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He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. Complete and total bullshit. The last time there was a government/political bickering induced pay issue it was for mid month pay in April 2011. Due to the inability to unfuck a budget, pay was cut in half and the mid month LES reflected this. Considering that a large portion of the military lives from paycheck to paycheck, and therefore watch their LES like a hawk, this obviously caused some issues and quite a bit of unneeded stress in some folks lives. It was fixed a day or so after mid month with a separate check being cut for that pay period. It is likely that this cost the government more money in the form of extra services being offered and AER loans being paid. Now there are certain individual that do have pay problems, and at times the issue is a pain in the ass to resolve, but it gets fixed eventually and it is NOT due to the DOD running out of money. |
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We had an Army Captain stop in the gun store last week. Said he just got back from A-stan. Had a nice chat with him about what was going on there. He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. He said that the guys were really mad, and that morale was in the basement. He told me that his SgtMaj told him that the guys were talking about refusing to go outside the wire for any reason if their pay was fucked up for a 3rd pay period. No pay, no play. Anybody here heard any stuff like this? I find it VERY disturbing that our .gov doesn't have the money to pay our troops. WTF is going on in Washington that could result in this happening? Full of shit, he is. |
Our gov't budget may be fucked up but this isn't Russia or DirkaDirkaStan
There are plenty of pooch screws at an individual level; I had to do the DFAS square dance on a couple of occasions after my paycheck came up snakeyes but to be fair, Uncle Sam always coughed up the money once brought it to admin's attention. There would be howls of bloody murder on every news channel, even the leftist ones, if the military stopped getting paid. This guy is either a poser, a moron, or both. |
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Ive been stuck in TRADOC land for almost two years, but I have never been skipped. The paycheck has always showed up. I would have gone insane if I got stuck in TRADOC that long. Stupid mortars..... Tradoc's not always bad. Two years permanent OPFOR in 1/509 Airborne Infantry at JRTC. Thirty weeks/year in the field on jump status. I still would have preferred Bragg, but my original orders were to Ft. Drum and already spent enough of my life in the snow, so was happy to be in a hot climate. I loved being in the field and hated being mechanized so was happy to be away from Bradley's. If I went to Bragg would have been on Sheridans (was a Cav Scout) so was a fair trade-off. That....and thoroughly enjoyed reading the non-stop hilarity that followed Arkansas's serial rapist governor. I never would have known who he was if not for the steady stream of rape allegations that followed him prior to his move to DC. ETA: as for the OP's original comments, I didn't get paid my first 3 months in the Army (transferred from Reserves to active duty). I was given 36 hours notice of my deployment to Germany (didn't put in for PCS leave from jump school, originally had orders to Ft. Bragg) and had no money to get to Virginia for my flight. Was a big mess. |
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About the only way I'd see that happening is if that Captain was in a Reserve or NG unit. If that were the case, you could tell me about anything being fucked up with their pay/benefits while overseas and I'd believe anything you could tell me. It's gotten a lot better since 2003, but the amount of sheer idiocy that went on with regards to the guys we had attached to us was mind-boggling. And, in some cases, damn near unfixable. We had a couple of guys who were with us over in Iraq who never got paid the entire year they were there––Just continuous casual pays. From what I understand, it took nearly two years after the deployment to get everything straightened out for those two. And, that was after Congressional inquiries, Governor inquiries, and a wholesale reaming of the NG pay system folks that resulted in several GS-15 and -16 firings.
There was another character we heard about through the grapevine who was a NG guy from Mississippi who had gotten "stopped" at the mobilization station due to dental issues or something. His teeth were so screwed up that they kept him at the mob station for the entire time the unit was in Iraq while they were fixing his teeth. Talked to one of the guys from his unit after they'd been back a year, asked if they'd ever gotten this guy fixed, and got laughter in return: He was still at the mob station, running some kind of training program––And, he was still drawing combat pay! Supposedly, when they got the situation straightened out, he was going to owe Uncle Sam something like $20,000.00+ to repay all the back taxes and special pays he'd been drawing, since someone had stuck his ass onto the rolls for being deployed to Iraq with us... Active duty? An entire unit not getting paid? Not likely. Either of the reserve forces? Entirely plausible. |
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The smartest Specialist I've ever had, bar none, was a NG who got mobed. Was in a car wreck before his report date, went to the hospital, so they cancelled his orders. He NEVER reported to the mob station, but they paid him anyway...
He gets out of the hospital, & there's $10K in his bank account. He calls the Readiness NCO, who calls DFAS, etc, eventually the pay is stopped. He is now paying Uncle back $200 a drill weekend for the rest of his career, while making interest on the cash. Except... It's not coming out of his account. He comes to me, & says that the debt isn't going down. Eventually, I drive 3 hours to Guard HQ, we dig through the records, and he's been put on orders AGAIN! But not paid this time, thank God. While I was away, happily they promoted him to SGT. Gig 'em, backbencher |
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He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. Complete and total bullshit. The last time there was a government/political bickering induced pay issue it was for mid month pay in April 2011. Due to the inability to unfuck a budget, pay was cut in half and the mid month LES reflected this. Considering that a large portion of the military lives from paycheck to paycheck, and therefore watch their LES like a hawk, this obviously caused some issues and quite a bit of unneeded stress in some folks lives. It was fixed a day or so after mid month with a separate check being cut for that pay period. It is likely that this cost the government more money in the form of extra services being offered and AER loans being paid. Now there are certain individual that do have pay problems, and at times the issue is a pain in the ass to resolve, but it gets fixed eventually and it is NOT due to the DOD running out of money. This. Sounds like that guy was full of shit. |
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In April of 2011 I was in Iraq. We were warned about the pay issues and everything turned out fine.
Now, I am waiting on a bonus. That bonus was put in to the system in January. It was approved, and I was told it would be five months before I saw it due to processing. Should hit this month. I hope.
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He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. Complete and total bullshit. The last time there was a government/political bickering induced pay issue it was for mid month pay in April 2011. Due to the inability to unfuck a budget, pay was cut in half and the mid month LES reflected this. Considering that a large portion of the military lives from paycheck to paycheck, and therefore watch their LES like a hawk, this obviously caused some issues and quite a bit of unneeded stress in some folks lives. It was fixed a day or so after mid month with a separate check being cut for that pay period. It is likely that this cost the government more money in the form of extra services being offered and AER loans being paid. Now there are certain individual that do have pay problems, and at times the issue is a pain in the ass to resolve, but it gets fixed eventually and it is NOT due to the DOD running out of money. I personally think that was a big political FU to the military. Congress didn't get partial pay. Federal workers didn't get partial pay. Despite Dems constant claims Repubs wanted to shut the gov't down, Repubs were pretty clear they knew something would get pushed through. Funny how Obama can find half a billion dollars to hand over to Solyndra knowing full well they were going under, but was at a complete loss as to how he was gonna pay our servicemen in a combat zone. It was an absolute disgrace. |
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He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. Complete and total bullshit. The last time there was a government/political bickering induced pay issue it was for mid month pay in April 2011. Due to the inability to unfuck a budget, pay was cut in half and the mid month LES reflected this. Considering that a large portion of the military lives from paycheck to paycheck, and therefore watch their LES like a hawk, this obviously caused some issues and quite a bit of unneeded stress in some folks lives. It was fixed a day or so after mid month with a separate check being cut for that pay period. It is likely that this cost the government more money in the form of extra services being offered and AER loans being paid. Now there are certain individual that do have pay problems, and at times the issue is a pain in the ass to resolve, but it gets fixed eventually and it is NOT due to the DOD running out of money. I personally think that was a big political FU to the military. Congress didn't get partial pay. Federal workers didn't get partial pay. Despite Dems constant claims Repubs wanted the shut the gov't down, Repubs were pretty clear they knew something would get pushed through. Funny how Obama can find half a billion dollars to hand over to Solyndra knowing full well they were going under, but was at a complete loss as to how he was gonna pay our servicemen in a combat zone. It was an absolute disgrace. Agreed. Although I wouldn't be surprised if a similar situation would occur with another President, I do think Obama views the military as a "necessary evil." That just goes to show where the military stands in the food chain in comparison to bailouts and people who live beyond their means in houses they can't afford. 
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If it's a reserve unit, I can see it happening.
My last command had Individual Augments not getting paid for weeks after they arrived in-country. It happens-doesn't matter if you're an E-3 or an O-6. When I was "demobed" from activation orders in 2008, I didn't get paid my "final settlement" for five months, and that was after being in constant phone contact with several S-1 shops up to and including MOBCOM. At that, they only paid me half of what they owed me. That fucked my credit up so badly I still haven't completely recovered from it. |
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He really blew my mind when he said that his guys didn't get paid for TWO consecutive pay periods, supposedly due to the fact that the DOD had run out of money. Complete and total bullshit. The last time there was a government/political bickering induced pay issue it was for mid month pay in April 2011. Due to the inability to unfuck a budget, pay was cut in half and the mid month LES reflected this. Considering that a large portion of the military lives from paycheck to paycheck, and therefore watch their LES like a hawk, this obviously caused some issues and quite a bit of unneeded stress in some folks lives. It was fixed a day or so after mid month with a separate check being cut for that pay period. It is likely that this cost the government more money in the form of extra services being offered and AER loans being paid. Now there are certain individual that do have pay problems, and at times the issue is a pain in the ass to resolve, but it gets fixed eventually and it is NOT due to the DOD running out of money. I personally think that was a big political FU to the military. Congress didn't get partial pay. Federal workers didn't get partial pay. Despite Dems constant claims Repubs wanted to shut the gov't down, Repubs were pretty clear they knew something would get pushed through. Funny how Obama can find half a billion dollars to hand over to Solyndra knowing full well they were going under, but was at a complete loss as to how he was gonna pay our servicemen in a combat zone. It was an absolute disgrace. That, plus a hint of city/county/State level revenue drama. "But, but, if we don't jack up your property taxes soon, think of all the teachers and firemen who'll lose their jobs!!! Next, we'll have to lay off all the police officers, and shut down the libraries!!! Quit being so selfish!!!"
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Yup.
The Army hasn't gotten paid in three months. The "MSM" is covering this all up to support Obama, and those in uniform are sworn to secrecy. That random encounter you had with some captain who depends on a Sergeant Major to get a feel for his soldiers' morale is the first sign of a revolt. |