We have been and will continue to push for expanded coverage for the men and women of the Guard and Reserves and especially for those that have never deployed who have the least access of all. We believe that if you volunteered to serve then you deserve the same support as everyone else who put on the same uniform as you.

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, EANGUS, believes the unwarranted and baseless investigations by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID) of thousands of innocent Army National Guard Soldiers who legitimately participated in the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP) must stop and stop immediately.

The Recruiting Assistance Program was created in 2005 when the Army National Guard was struggling to meet its recruitment numbers due to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The National Guard’s Recruiting Assistance Program would provide incentives to National Guard soldiers and civilians to act as informal recruiters, or recruiting assistants (RA). These recruiting assistants would receive a payment of $2,000 for every new recruit they referred to a recruiter and that recruit finished their initial entry training. The Army National Guard’s Strength Maintenance Division contracted for these Recruiting Assistants with Docupak, who administered the contract. The recruiting assistants were hired by Docupak as subcontractors. After the program was put in place, the National Guard began to meet its recruiting goals and the Active Army and Army Reserve began their own similar programs.  All components of the Army implemented a form of RAP for various periods of time: The Army National Guard from 2005 to 2012; the Army Reserve from 2007 to 2012; and the active duty from 2008 to 2009. The total program was approximately $459 million.

In a Senate hearing, the Army alleged approximately $100 million in fraud. The Army CID, using over 200 agents, has spent about $40 million on the investigations to date, but only $2.377 million has been recovered—nowhere close to the alleged amount of fraud and a horrible return on the investment of resources.  Yes, there was some fraud, and the guilty have been prosecuted in court. But some of that money reflects mere capitulation; it was easier for some soldiers to simply return what they had earned through G-RAP than fight CID.

The Army Audit Agency conducted five separate audits of G-RAP. CID itself criminalized G-RAP program violations (not following ever-changing rules). Guardsmen who ran amiss of these rules were accused of fraud, a felony defined by the Army, audited by the Army, investigated by the Army and prosecuted by the Army in both civilian courts and through military administration. In some cases, the G-RAP “crime” amounted to just one payment of $2,000 when recruits could not remember the names of the individuals who recruited them from several years earlier…failed memory as felony!

In many cases, where there was only an investigation, Guard members have been flagged, their promotions and other favorable actions stopped, and their careers ruined over nothing more than unproven allegations. Many have capitulated and repaid their payments just to try and put an end to the unfounded allegations, and then found out the allegations didn’t end. Some have gone to court and been exonerated, yet still received punishment or career ending actions. Some have lost their conceal-carry licenses or job credentials. Some have lost their civilian jobs—all due to heavy handed investigations by CID agents who had no authority to question or investigation those with whom they had no jurisdiction.

This domestic attack on the Army National Guard must stop. The Army must own up to their embellished Congressional testimony and set the record straight. The Army, and especially the CID Command, owe it to each and every Guard member whose life has been terrorized and ruined to make them whole again, whatever it takes—do the right thing. And it needs to happen now.

— Active-duty-families: Tricare Select will be available at no cost to active-duty family members provided they use MTFs or network providers. Tricare Choice will also be available at no cost to active-duty family members if they use an MTF, but will add modest copays ranging from $15 for in-network primary care to $50 for in-network emergency care. All active-duty family members would incur a 20-percent copay for using non-network providers regardless of plan.

— Retirees under age 65: The current family rate for those enrolled in Tricare Prime is essentially $565. Under the new Tricare Select, the annual enrollment fee would rise 24 percent to $700. Under Tricare Choice, the family enrollment rate would be $900, whereas the exiting Tricare Standard/Extra programs have no enrollment fee. Regardless of plan, retirees would incur no copay if using an MTF. For network care, Select enrollees would incur copays ranging from $20 for primary care to $75 for emergency care, and Choice enrollees would see copays of $25 for primary care and $90 for emergency care. Both plans would see 25 percent copays for non-network care.

— Retirees 65 and older: Retirees in the rank of O-6 and below would pay 0.25 percent of their gross retired pay to enroll in Tricare for Life, which acts as a secondary insurance to Medicare Part B. The quarter-percent enrollment fee would gradually increase to 1 percent by FY 2020. Flag officers, or those in the ranks of O-7 and above, would pay a $100 enrollment fee in FY 2017, which would gradually increase to $400 in FY 2020.

— Retiree pharmacy copays: The Pentagon is again pushing the use of Tricare’s mail-order pharmacy, since provides a three-month supply of medications for the same cost or less of a one-month refill from a network pharmacy. More about the home delivery program here: http://www.tricare.mil/CoveredServices/Pharmacy/FillPrescriptions/HomeDelivery.aspx.

We increased the number of surveys since last week.  Please push this link out to your Association membership. The last day to take the survey is 04 MAR 2016.

Here is the link for the survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NationalGuardSurvey_2016

The website can be reached by cellphone, tablet and yes, even military computers.  We can inform our National Military Leaders on our thoughts and concerns regarding our attitudes towards our service.  This survey and the views we hope it generates will be important to these leaders and they are directly listening to our National Guard Committee on these topics.  The last survey you assisted us with a few months ago was used to directly inform the FORSCOM Commander on our ideas regarding training for the National Guard.

Please take the survey and then pass this link and purpose out to all Soldiers and Airmen you know.  Use your company distros, Unit Facebook pages, etc to get the message out about this opportunity to express our views for the future of our Force Structure.  We are looking for 5,000-10,000 responses and we need your help.  The National Commission on the Future of the Army, Adjutant Generals from around the Nation and these National Leaders are all listening to and look for what we can bring to the table.  The survey will run for 8 weeks so there is time to get the word out.  It is quick.

The Senate voted unanimously to pass legislation to help protect the homes of members of the armed forces from foreclosure. The bill would extend through 2017 a provision that safeguards active duty servicemembers against losing their homes for one year following the completion of their service in the field.

The current one-year safeguard from foreclosure will expire at the end of 2015 and revert to the three-month protection that was originally enacted under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

In 2008, Congress first extended the period of foreclosure protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) from 90 days to nine months in response to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. The report found that “the threat of foreclosure is a stressor that need not be placed on members of the armed forces during the first months of their return to civilian life.”

In December 2014, Congress extended the foreclosure protection until January 2016. Unless the House of Representatives acts by the end of this year, the period of foreclosure protection will revert back to just 90 days starting in 2016.

The SCRA provides for the temporary suspension of judicial and administrative proceedings and actions that may adversely affect servicemembers during military service. Key provisions include limiting the interest rate on debts incurred prior to a person’s entry into active duty military service, prohibiting military families from being evicted from rental or mortgaged property; and prohibiting military families from having their life insurance canceled or being taxed in multiple jurisdictions.

(It seems very unlikely that the House of Representatives will act before the end of the year. But they may very well take this bill up as soon as they return and make the effective date retroactive to January 1^st 2016.)