If it's happening there…

…it's likely happening elsewhere, but even if this problem is isolated to the North Carolina Guard, it's a national disgrace…

N.C. National Guard officials say that at least 400 troops are owed an average of $2,000 each, for a total of at least $800,000, but the numbers may be considerably higher.

In addition to their regular pay based on rank, length of service and type of duty, National Guardsmen called to active service are entitled to be reimbursed for authorized travel and living expenses they incur while traveling on official business.

Every commanding officer knows there are three things that have to be taken care of if any kind of unit morale is to be maintained - payroll, mail and chow. Competent commanders, the ones that earn the kind of trust that inspires troops to follow orders into harms way, go to the wall for their men and women to make sure any SNAFU in those areas is corrected quickly and completely. At least, that's what happens when the service of our troops is valued.

While the N.C. Guard and the DoD pass the buck back and forth, these men and women ar repaid for their patriotic sacrifice with neglect and excuses. This problem isn't new, and really, it's not all that surprising. In a bureaucracy the size of the Defense Department, mistakes are made. What's important is that when they're discovered, they're corrected. Immediately. It's the responsibility of those at the top of the chain of command to handle this problem. Does anyone think that this couldn't be solved in a minute by an order from the Secretary of Defense, or a phone call from his boss, the Commander In Chief? Ignorance is no excuse. If a beat reporter in Greensboro knows, everyone in the chain of command should know. The NC Guard command knows what's happening, but they don't know to who or why...

State Guard officials acknowledge that they don't know how many of the about 3,500 N.C. National Guard soldiers who served with the 30th EHSB have not been paid their daily expense money, known as per diem, and their travel allowance, and they're not sure why.

Well, I can suggest a simple answer. George Bush and his immediate subordinates at the DoD must hate our fighting men and women. No one wants to believe it, but their actions (or inaction) in cases like this repeatedly proves it.