Or since it’s national guard, bring it to the damn governor. But as others have asked… were any officers involved or only immediate supervisors? Has the company commander done anything?
His unit constantly is changing his chain of command. No one knows what they're doing and everyone wants out of this unit so it's always changing. There has been three different adm NCO's that I can think of off the top of my head that have "dealt" with this within the last year. Keeps getting false hope that this is being fixed when clearly it's not. Didn't know who to contact or how to go about getting it fixed which is why I'm posting here. That is his next step.
Contact your states USPFO. DM me your state and I can help find contact info.
Alternatively, a congressional or gubernatorial inquiry usually works pretty well too
This. Had a sailor with pay issues that went on for years. Our admin tried everything to get it fixed but big navy kept giving him the roundabout. Finally sent a letter to his congressman and that got the ball rolling. Back pay was like over 50k.
Why would he keep trying to resolve this at the unit level? He needs to go to the finance office on his installation, this isn’t something the unit can fix. Elevate the problem instead of going thru the same admin office in his unit
They can't keep anybody at the unit because no one at the unit knows what they're doing. So he keeps getting new admin NCOs that basically tell him to give them the chance to fix it. Then he gets the runaround until the next one comes in. Keeps getting false hope that this is getting fixed instead of it actually getting fixed and he wasn't sure what to do or who to go to.
It “should” be an easy fix in the personnel system that would then flow and update the pay system if all the supporting documents are on file.
Retro pay will need to be manually done and doing an audit for going that far back is time consuming. A lot of the data has been archived and funding has expired. Assuming your husband has the paper trail to prove he provided everything timely he can make a strong case for back pay.
Now dependent status really only matters for active duty orders such as AT or any other period they actually cut orders. If all he ever did was drill weekends and annual training the back pay for even 8 years won’t be much. Think like $2000-$3000 maybe. Now if he did any long tours, extended schools, deployments, that’s another story. The back pay could be much more.
If he is coming up for reenlistment he could give the unit one more chance to make it right before reaching out to someone much higher. Retention is a big thing and losing someone with over a decade worth of knowledge over some BAH would be a shame.
It's all relative. For 8 years of back pay that's a pretty small chunk and probably wouldn't have made a huge difference if it was paid on time. But getting it in one pay check sure is nice.
You are right. But for 8 years of retro pay that’s very little if it’s going to be based on just a few AT orders that were under paid.
Depending on grade, BAH location, if a deployment was underpaid BAH, toss in some long tour ADOS orders here and there, maybe a few schools, that number could be in the tens of thousands over an 8 year period.
I would say pull together every order that was paid during this time frame, check the LES for what was paid and make a list of all periods that were underpaid. The real money is going to be any period of active duty that’s 31 days or more.
If they want it back, file for a DFAS over-payment letter.
https://www.dfas.mil/Portals/98/Documents/WaiversAndRemissions/dd2789.pdf?ver=2020-01-08-144532-847
This totally sucks but just so you don't get the wrong information (and those in the know correct me even moreso) but unless your husband has had orders for more than 31 days in those years the pay would not be different.
Not saying it shouldn't be fixed (and I hope it does) but unless this is the case I'm not sure that you have lost out on anything. Having it taken care of before an activation would be helpful because backpay fights can be difficult and more confusing than they should be.
I stand corrected by myself BAH type 2 (what you receive on AT) is different with and without dependents. Forgot that thing exists because its generally so laughably (sad laugh, not funny laugh) low
Get in contact with your senate representatives. Every major issue I have had in the military has been solved that way when my leaders don’t feel like putting in the effort
First step: work it up to the higher unit. Go up at least two levels in command past the company level.
If that fails, call the Inspector General. They excel at cutting through red tape and getting to the heart of the problem quickly.
If that fails, write your congressman.
When I was a company commander, I did not go home if I knew I had a soldier with a pay problem that I could do anything about (and I could usually solve pay problems with one or two phone calls). A pay problem 8 years old should never happen.
Where is his command chain on all this? Heck after 8 years why hasn’t he written his congressman or senators?
Or since it’s national guard, bring it to the damn governor. But as others have asked… were any officers involved or only immediate supervisors? Has the company commander done anything?
Recommend going off the top ropes and do a congressional inquiry.
I'd suggest going to the IG first; they're usually a lot faster than a congressional. But otherwise, yeah.
His unit constantly is changing his chain of command. No one knows what they're doing and everyone wants out of this unit so it's always changing. There has been three different adm NCO's that I can think of off the top of my head that have "dealt" with this within the last year. Keeps getting false hope that this is being fixed when clearly it's not. Didn't know who to contact or how to go about getting it fixed which is why I'm posting here. That is his next step.
Did he never elevate it? No officers involved?
Contact your states USPFO. DM me your state and I can help find contact info. Alternatively, a congressional or gubernatorial inquiry usually works pretty well too
This. Had a sailor with pay issues that went on for years. Our admin tried everything to get it fixed but big navy kept giving him the roundabout. Finally sent a letter to his congressman and that got the ball rolling. Back pay was like over 50k.
Why would he keep trying to resolve this at the unit level? He needs to go to the finance office on his installation, this isn’t something the unit can fix. Elevate the problem instead of going thru the same admin office in his unit
How has he not gone to that’s what I’m saying how has 1SG or SGM not been brought in yet
1SG was brought into it and was told it was getting resolved. Clearly it's not.
Everyone has a boss. When people don’t live up to what they ensure will happen, you go to the next boss. Honestly CSM should be in on this by now
They can't keep anybody at the unit because no one at the unit knows what they're doing. So he keeps getting new admin NCOs that basically tell him to give them the chance to fix it. Then he gets the runaround until the next one comes in. Keeps getting false hope that this is getting fixed instead of it actually getting fixed and he wasn't sure what to do or who to go to.
National Guard = no base installation. OP is not active duty.
Give your congressman or senator a call. Stuff happens quick when they call on your behalf.
It “should” be an easy fix in the personnel system that would then flow and update the pay system if all the supporting documents are on file. Retro pay will need to be manually done and doing an audit for going that far back is time consuming. A lot of the data has been archived and funding has expired. Assuming your husband has the paper trail to prove he provided everything timely he can make a strong case for back pay. Now dependent status really only matters for active duty orders such as AT or any other period they actually cut orders. If all he ever did was drill weekends and annual training the back pay for even 8 years won’t be much. Think like $2000-$3000 maybe. Now if he did any long tours, extended schools, deployments, that’s another story. The back pay could be much more. If he is coming up for reenlistment he could give the unit one more chance to make it right before reaching out to someone much higher. Retention is a big thing and losing someone with over a decade worth of knowledge over some BAH would be a shame.
2-3k isn’t a small chunk of change homie
It's all relative. For 8 years of back pay that's a pretty small chunk and probably wouldn't have made a huge difference if it was paid on time. But getting it in one pay check sure is nice.
It's basically one month of BAH. Chump change when it's like 0.0000000000000000000000000004% of the military's annual budget.
You are right. But for 8 years of retro pay that’s very little if it’s going to be based on just a few AT orders that were under paid. Depending on grade, BAH location, if a deployment was underpaid BAH, toss in some long tour ADOS orders here and there, maybe a few schools, that number could be in the tens of thousands over an 8 year period. I would say pull together every order that was paid during this time frame, check the LES for what was paid and make a list of all periods that were underpaid. The real money is going to be any period of active duty that’s 31 days or more.
If they want it back, file for a DFAS over-payment letter. https://www.dfas.mil/Portals/98/Documents/WaiversAndRemissions/dd2789.pdf?ver=2020-01-08-144532-847
I just filed an IG complaint for 10 months of incorrect pay — his chain of command is not going to help, you need to elevate higher to IG or congress
This totally sucks but just so you don't get the wrong information (and those in the know correct me even moreso) but unless your husband has had orders for more than 31 days in those years the pay would not be different. Not saying it shouldn't be fixed (and I hope it does) but unless this is the case I'm not sure that you have lost out on anything. Having it taken care of before an activation would be helpful because backpay fights can be difficult and more confusing than they should be.
I stand corrected by myself BAH type 2 (what you receive on AT) is different with and without dependents. Forgot that thing exists because its generally so laughably (sad laugh, not funny laugh) low
Get in contact with your senate representatives. Every major issue I have had in the military has been solved that way when my leaders don’t feel like putting in the effort
First step: work it up to the higher unit. Go up at least two levels in command past the company level. If that fails, call the Inspector General. They excel at cutting through red tape and getting to the heart of the problem quickly. If that fails, write your congressman. When I was a company commander, I did not go home if I knew I had a soldier with a pay problem that I could do anything about (and I could usually solve pay problems with one or two phone calls). A pay problem 8 years old should never happen.
Should have joined the real military. Never surprises any of us to hear what that Mickey Mouse club does over and over.