The National Guard Recruiting Assistance Program was established to increase enlistment in the armed forces during the Iraq war. Soldiers who signed up as recruiting assistants were compensated if one of their referrals enlisted. If one of their referrals went through to basic training, the fee was higher.
Enlisting an officer could mean a payday of $8,500. The Army paid out more than $300 million through the program for roughly 130,000 enlistees.
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But in 2012, the program was shut down by the Army after dozens of recruiters and their recruiting assistant soldiers were caught taking advantage of the program — claiming they’d signed up people they hadn’t and getting paid on the fakes. In October 2015, 25 were arrested. In January 2016, seven more National Guardsmen were arrested. The investigation is ongoing.
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will talk about the fraudulent cases on 60 Minutes. “It was mind-boggling to me,” she said of the amount of money “going out the door without anybody doing the basics of control for the program.” So far, the Army has spent nearly $28 million to uncover $10 million of alleged fraud.
Tune in to 60 Minutes investigative report, which aired on May 22 on CBS.
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