In an article by Tom Vanden Brook for USA TODAY(February 3, 2014) entitled: “Recruiting fraud, kickback scandal rocks Army,” we learn of a widespread scandal involving hundreds of soldiers.
Mr. Vanden Brook tells us that:
“Fraudulent payments (made) total in the ‘tens of millions,’ with one soldier allegedly pocketing $275,000 in illegal kickbacks, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. At least four others made more than $100,000 each.”
According to the article, one of the schemes in place occurred when two recruiters “forced a subordinate into registering as a recruiting assistant.” When the “sale was made,” the recruiters split the bonuses with the assistant which was completely illegal.
In another scheme, recruiters “registered an unwitting person as a recruiting assistant, and then substituted their own bank account for direct deposit of the fraudulent bonuses.” This amounts to larceny on top of fraud.
Recruiting Assistance Program
A program was put into place in 2005 during a period when referrals were down. The idea was to pay soldiers for referring friends. A soldier could get anywhere from $2,000 to $7,500 for the referral. However, it was quickly determined that the program could become ripe for fraud – and it did.
“An Army audit found that 1,200 recruiters had received payments that were potentially fraudulent, and another 2,000 recruiting assistants had received questionable payments.”
The recruiters and their “assistants” were running a scheme. It is similar to using someone else’s credentials for personal gain. It would be like asking my dermatologist to give me his medical license so I could open up a dermatology office in another state!
There are numerous ethical violations in play here and it all centers around the concept of opportunity.
It is first the thought that the government (that’s us, folks) has the unlimited funding in place to keep making payments for most anyone walking through the door of a recruiting station. The recruiters understood the inherent flaws in the system. They knew they had no bonus structure in place for doing their jobs, but they knew that as long as they could use suspecting or unsuspecting soldiers who were not officially designated as recruiters as their personal “money making machines,” they could realize a steady and an additional income stream in collecting recruitment bonuses.
It is also an exercise in bullying. The recruiting sergeants used their rank and the privilege of rank to coerce lower level enlisted personnel to funnel payments into personal bank accounts.
The Army is not like civilian life. If an underling balked at the prospect of playing along, there was always the real or implied threat that they could get shipped out to another assignment. Career Non-commissioned officers (sergeants) have a surprising amount of clout and many connections. They can make things happen. As it turns out, even the soldiers who were coerced are now disgraced. Everyone loses when fraud is afoot.
The recruiting sergeants, usually career personnel, were also violating the ethics of the very organization whose principals they represented. They were far more concerned with getting cash payments from new bodies through the door, than in the discharge of their duties. This is extremely serious. They will be removed.
What can be done
I suppose there have been abuses in the military since George Washington was crossing the Delaware. There are always unethical people who will take advantage of an opportunity. The Army is no different. These corrupt soldiers are the exception, to be sure, but there must be strategies in place, especially in the recruiting area, to prevent a situation like this from ever happening again.
The recruiter should be the epitome of a good soldier; they are the “face” of the Army. If they fail, in a way the system fails.
Firewalls must be instituted to prevent coercion. If an ethical system is put into place at least everyone will understand the consequences of unethical behavior. Yes, the Army will address this particular situation, but what about the future? Without proper training, something like this will happen again.
Perhaps the Army should hire me to discuss and train on ethics. Having had that opportunity to work with the Navy and Coast Guard…it would seem that the Army is ripe for some ethics training. Wonder if anyone is listening?
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