With all of the difficulties finding new recruits and retaining current troops you have to wonder what impact such a move will have. So does this mean that a signed deal means nothing?
According to a state Guard spokesman, Maj. Phil Osterli, at least 15 Washington National Guardsmen and women signed re-enlistment forms promising them a tax-free $15,000 bonus in return. Many of them were stationed in Iraq at the time, he said.
Latson, 35, said Friday that the bonus was a big incentive to re-enlist. At the time it was offered, he was serving in Iraq as an enlisted aide for a general at the Balad Army base near Baghdad.
He signed a re-enlistment form Jan. 17, just after he took the oath from his commanding officer. "For a 6 year reenlistment/extension I will receive a total bonus of $15,000," reads the official Army National Guard form.
"It has made a significant impact on my life," said Latson. "For them to offer a bonus when we're at war, when we're risking our lives, and then to turn around and not pay it when we return is the wrong message to send to me, to any soldier. It's not fair."
