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Army secretary again promises quick review
Army Secretary Pete Geren?s public schedule Thursday included a speech at a ceremony to celebrate the achievement of a big goal: The Army signed up 80,000 new recruits this year. ?Today we honor the American soldier,? Geren said. ?Today we honor the men and women about to become American soldiers.? Away from the ceremony, Geren had men and women already serving the country on his mind. Pressure has been building for the Army to resolve the issue of education benefits that went AWOL. More than 1,100 members of the Minnesota National Guard ? soldiers who were on the ground longer than any other unit in Iraq ? were denied thousands of dollars they say they should have earned under the GI Bill. Geren talked about those benefits in a phone call to Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Penn., the former Marine and chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Once again, Geren promised a quick review. Congressman Tim Walz, D-Minn., spoke to Murtha and later said, ?The personal assurance from Secretary Geren to Chairman Murtha is good news for all members of the brigade who spent two years serving their nation in Iraq, only to find that they were denied benefits upon return.? The chief of the National Guard Bureau, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, told NBC?s Today show the issue should be resolved. ?I have no doubt whatsoever that the Army will do the right thing for these great citizen/soldiers that did what (the) nation asked them to do when they were needed,? Blum said. An Army review board is looking into missing money. Earlier this week, two members of the unit told KARE11 they believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote their deployment orders for 729 days, one day short of the 730 days needed to qualify for education benefits worth hundreds of dollars a month. The Army said it hopes to have the matter cleared up by the end of the year. In the meantime, Minnesota lawmakers have introduced measures to guarantee the education benefits are paid. Congressman John Kline introduced the bill in the House. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman are co-sponsors of the version in the Senate.
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