Bonus for re-upping? Not so fast

[gratuitous]

Yep, it appears that those promised $15,000 bonuses to dogfaces for re-enlisting in the National Guard and Army Reserve duplicate other bonuses, may be illegal, and so the Pentagon is cancelling them. Did you already get yours? You may have to pay it back:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5258954p-4774126c.html

When a bonus isn’t a bonus, Murray fires

LES BLUMENTHAL; The News Tribune
Published: October 16th, 2005 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has reneged on its offer to pay a $15,000 bonus to members of the National Guard and Army Reserve who agree to extend their enlistments by six years, according to Sen. Patty Murray (D-Seattle).

The bonuses were offered in January to Active Guard and Reserve and military technician soldiers who were serving overseas. In April, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs ordered the bonuses stopped, Murray said.

* * *

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, confirmed the bonuses had been canceled, saying they violated Pentagon policies because they duplicated other programs. She said Guard and Reserve members would be eligible for other bonuses.

Krenke said some soldiers had been paid the re-enlistment bonuses, but she was unsure how many or whether the money would have to be repaid. Murray’s office said that as far as it knew, no active Guard or Reserve members had received the bonuses.

___________________

Supporting the troops, Bush administration-style.

[TrueAmerican]

1. Excuse me, but what does "dogfaces" mean?

I have been in the military 21+ years and I have never heard that term. Is it suppose to be demeaning or some form of admiration?

[gratuitous]

2. From our good friends at Merriam Webster

Main Entry: dog·face
Pronunciation: 'dog-"fAs
Function: noun
: SOLDIER; especially : INFANTRYMAN

[TrueAmerican]

5. Thanks

Kind of a obsure reference to use. I guess you learn something new everyday.

[The Magistrate]

9. It Was Once Quite Prevelant, Sir

And dates to the Second World War period: the cartoonist Mr. Mauldin popularized it particularly....

[MADem]

4. It alluded to a hang dog look, most infantry were pretty miserable

dogface
(US) A US Army infantryman - common in World War II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_slang

[mrcheerful]

6. Its what american Army men were called in

WWI&II, just like a Marine was called a Jar head or Grunt. They were also known as GI Joe's because everything that the military had on it was stamped with GI (government issue)and it seems there were a lot of guys named Joe going to the ladies of the evening over seas. Drill Sargent's used the term dog face during training and the Army started calling them selves that during both wars. In fact most of the terms you heard service people using came from drill Sargent's, after hearing it for weeks it becomes a thing of pride, sort of like how convicts call them selves con's or ex cons after serving time. Human nature to take a negative and make it into a positive, like revolutionary troops called them selves yankees after the British started singing Yankee Doodle Dandy at the american forces.

[Ferret Annica]

10. Sargent is a name sergeant is a rank.

Referencing your error that is an all too common one, :-)

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. The Pro-Military Administration....

No wonder the soldiers love to vote repub so much. They're treated so well, I'm really surprised it's not even higher than it already is.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Do the Guardsmen Get to Cancel Their Re-Enlistment Contracts?

I didn't think so.

[windbreeze]

8. I bet Patty Murray....

Is pretty pissed right about now...She's one Senator, from an area with lots of military people..and said she'd stick up for them...This is gonna hit her hard, because supporting our troops is personal with her...Boy oh boy, she's slight of build, but don't they say dynamite comes in small packages..and I believe she's one Senator that voted against the "war"...
"Every day she wakes up and something else has gone wrong"...well, join the crowd, Patty...that's the way we see it too..
This is criminal, and they should not be allowed to get away with it...those guys who re-upped, because of that bonus promise, should be allowed to walk away...their contract to serve this admin. is broken...
windbreeze