WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill got an update last week from the National Guard Bureau’s Chief on the recently exposed, wide-scale fraud in the Guard’s recruiting program-in which up to $100 million in potential fraudulent payments were made, with more than one thousand Guard members implicated.
McCaskill met with General Frank Grass, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, weeks after McCaskill’s oversight subcommittee and Army investigators revealed pervasive fraud and potential waste in the Army National Guard’s Recruiting Assistance Program. The program paid National Guard members, retirees, and civilians to recruit friends and family, but had virtually no safeguards or controls-leading to criminal fraud on a massive scale. The program was established at the height of the Iraq war in 2005 to help the Guard achieve its recruiting goals, and was later expanded to the Army Reserve and Regular Army.
“The Army National Guard is full of hardworking men and women, fighting to protect and serve our nation,” said McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor and the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. “That’s why it’s so important that we get this right. We need to restore the integrity of the recruiting and contracting process, and make sure these criminals are held accountable for their actions, to start erasing this stain on our National Guard.”
Earlier this year, McCaskill’s Senate hearing on the recruitment program identified that the program likely led to more than $50 million in fraud, with a worst case of up to $100 million wasted. Since the first cases of fraud were reported, the fraud cases have become one of the largest criminal investigations in Army history. Approximately 200 agents have begun a review of all 106,364 individuals who received money from the program. It is estimated that the top five recipients of fraudulent money were each paid more than $100,000. The top recipient, who received $274,500, is currently being criminally prosecuted. The third highest recipient, who received $208,500 in payments, plead guilty. The fraud was not limited to enlisted soldiers-more than 200 officers (including several Generals and Colonels) are currently under investigation.
McCaskill and Gen. Grass also focused their discussion on upcoming budgetary concerns that may impact Missouri. McCaskill expressed the importance to Missouri’s 139th Airlift Wing of new C-130 J models to replace the existing older H model aircraft. Additionally, the two discussed the Army’s proposal to move the Guard’s fleet of AH-64 Apache helicopters to the active service.
Last month, McCaskill and fellow Missouri Senator Roy Blunt held a joint roundtable discussion with base and community leaders at the Air National Guard base in St. Joseph, Mo., to talk about the role of Missouri’s military bases in our national defense and the impact of the recently proposed Pentagon budget cuts. McCaskill and Blunt also have teamed up to urge the Air Force to bring additional C-130 aircraft to Rosecrans, touting the base’s “personnel, expertise, and resources to house additional aircraft.”