EDITORIAL: Misplaced priorities

Defense Secretary Ash Carter did the right thing Wednesday when he told the Pentagon to suspend its effort to reclaim bonus money erroneously paid to National Guard troops, including a handful in Nevada.

The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend that about 10,000 soldiers in California mistakenly received excessive signing bonuses at a time when the Guard was struggling to meet recruiting targets during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Pentagon officials have since embarked upon an effort to get the money back plus interest, even going so far as garnisheeing wages.

The Review-Journal’s Keith Rogers reported this week that a “handful of Army Reserve military police serving in Nevada” were among those asked to repay the bonuses.

Many of these soldiers had served multiple combat deployments and are now struggling financially. Some of these bonuses date back at least a decade — expecting repayment makes little sense.

News of the claw back led several members of Congress — including Nevada Reps. Joe Heck and Dina Titus — to protest the action. In response, Mr. Carter stepped in and ordered a review of the program.

“Ultimately, we will provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own,” he said. “At the same time, it will respect our important obligations to the taxpayer.”

Mr. Carter said his staff will develop a reasonable means of resolving the cases by next July.

Nobody seems to know how much money is at stake, although National Public Radio noted Wednesday that the Defense Department spent $1.4 billion on re-enlistment bonuses in 2008. The Times reported that most of the bonuses in question were in the $15,000 range.

But rather than harassing and burdening men and women who answered their country’s call to duty, Pentagon officials should focus instead on figuring out how to prevent similar errors in the future. Sanctions for those who contributed to the fiasco would also be appropriate.

As for the Pentagon’s “obligations to the taxpayer,” the military is a poster child for pork. A U.S. News piece earlier this year concluded that wasteful defense spending “may be reaching historic levels.”

In that context, efforts to reclaim years-old incentive pay from those who risked their lives on the front lines reveals some woefully misplaced priorities.