Thousands of National Guard troops are facing a frustrating situation as they have not received the enlistment bonuses promised to them. Nearly 13,000 troops, including almost 4,000 who have already left the service, are still waiting for their bonuses.
Every year, thousands of Americans join the National Guard with the expectation of receiving bonuses as high as $20,000 for their part-time service. However, approximately 6% of these service members have not been paid the incentives they were promised, according to a National Guard official.
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The problem is not limited to those currently serving; even 3,900 former service members who have completed their military service have not received their bonus payments. The official explained that many of these individuals were deemed ineligible due to associated adverse actions that were not resolved before their separation.
The delayed bonuses have left many members frustrated and financially strained. One soldier shared his disappointment, saying, “I was really relying on this money to help with moving into a new place with my wife. I did my end of things, and this is a really bad introduction to the Army, not taking care of people.”
Typically, bonuses are paid out after a member completes their initial entry training. The National Guard considers payments late if more than 30 days have passed since the training was completed without any payment being made.
However, there is no official policy specifying when payments must be made, leaving service members with limited options for addressing overdue payments.
The official stated, “While there is no explicit policy that requires soldiers to be paid their bonus within 30 days of eligibility, it is the ARNG G1’s targeted goal to achieve this.
Right now, the current timeline for processing is around six months.” The official also mentioned that nearly 94% of eligible soldiers have received their enlistment bonuses.
The National Guard is actively working to resolve the outstanding payments and holds itself to higher standards. The official emphasized, “We are working very hard to reconcile the remaining 6% because we believe one overdue payment to an otherwise eligible soldier is one too many.”
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For those who have been separated for less than a year and believe they are still eligible for a bonus, they can reach out to their state G1/personnel directly. However, individuals who have been separated for over a year need to go through DFAS and submit a ticket under claims or bonus.
The official also acknowledged that part of the problem stems from the Army National Guard Incentive Management System (GIMS). The system, implemented in 2012 to streamline the process and prevent fraud, experienced significant outages in 2018 and 2021, resulting in a manual and complicated process that caused backlogs.
