Pentagon bomb techs off the hook
David sends us a link to the Washington Post which reports that the Pentagon is forgiving the tens of thousands of dollars that each member of the Pentagon bomb tech crew supposedly owned in back pay – the story we talked about the other day.
The waivers were completed despite some members of the bomb squad expecting that their cases would not be heard for several more weeks. Badger said the approval of hazardous duty pay — promised in offer letters to the bomb technicians — was “an administrative error made in good faith, but with severe financial consequences for the employees.”
“The pay was incorrectly authorized through no fault of the employees involved,” Badger said. “They could not have known it was paid in error, and we take this matter very seriously.”
The case pitted nine members of the bomb squad — formally known as the Hazardous Devices Division of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency — against the Pentagon bureaucracy. One member of the squad, Axel Fernandez, committed suicide in April, exacerbating the frustrations of those in the unit. According to emails and memos obtained by The Washington Post, the Pentagon told him he owed back in excess of $136,000.
Yeah, so the decision comes a little late for Axel Fernandez and his family, but then the Pentagon shouldn’t have started this pissing contest in the first place.
Category: Big Pentagon
The pentagon is either laughably inept, or corrupt. I’m not sure which would be scarier. I get the “Relenting only because we got caught” vibe from this.
I think it’s probably a case of being laughably inept at being corrupt.
Nice to see this workout for those who are still with us, too bad Mr. Fernandez could see no way out beyond his own demise.
I’d not hold a friend responsible for the actions of the government and would hope that friend could confide his intentions and his sense of responsibility so we could avoid such a tragic outcome. I suspect his friends weren’t holding him accountable for this fiasco either.
And I am sure that the bureaucrat who initiated this SNAFU has been terminated and forced to pay back the legal and administrative costs of this error.
I couldn’t even type that with a straight face.
Well then, I guess we can just go dig up old Axel Fernandez and tell him, Hey Bro, Sorry about that, MY BAD, it’s all good now, and he can just shake it off and get back to work.
Oh he can’t respawn? This is real life and a guy’s dead because you fucked up?
Oh darn.
/I bet those fuckers won’t lose a wink of sleep over this.
//KMPWFA!!!!!!!!
凸(｀0´)凸
Preach, Senior, Preach!
Those that made this mistake and authorized the pay are all being transfered to the VA
Find out who the asshole is that tried to pull this crap on these people. I doubt it was more than a couple of them, but they should be on the receiving end of some serious public scorn that they can never live down.
Yes, whoever THEY are, THEY are accountable for Fernandez’s death and they are NOT faceless.
Unfortunately, no one will get fired, no one will even get talked to harshly at that level.
Army HRC, the Pentagon, 4 star commands, it doesn’t matter if you screw up and/or screw others. Its only a problem if someone at that level is caused suffering or more work. This is why those are the first levels that need “reductions” to be done. Bloated bureaucratic dirtbags that have 100% job security and a loss of concern for those they effect.
SO JUST WTF does our beloved Government do when they make overpayments to say, welfare flunkies, illegal aliens or some of these muzzie “refugees”? OH, they’re more equal animals in the farm, stupidassed MOI!
Let the dicksmoker who initiated this shitshow have a sit-down with the Fernandez family and see how far that “good faith” goes.
IMHO, as a under-qualified arm-chair lawyer, the Fernandez family is due some additional compensation for undue suffering and loss of life.
While I understand and agree with your sentiment, I feel that rewarding suicide – no matter how just the reasoning – sets an awful precedent. Rewarding suicide – whether by compensating the victim/perpetrator’s family, punishing a school/online bully, or any other reaction we can think of – incentivizes suicide instead of discouraging it.
My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Fernandez, and I hope those responsible for his circumstances, well, may they live forever, but punishing others (guilty though they may be) in the wake of suicide is not a line I wish to cross.
I’m curious to how you would respond to this situation. Suppose Fernandez had insurance policies with a suicide clause. His family would not be able to collect on them. Do you think the government should compensate he family for the amount of money they would have been paid?
I wish I had an elegant answer.
To pay what insurance would pay had his death not been self-inflicted would send a message that suicide is a viable way to support one’s family when it seems all other options have been exhausted.
To jail or fine those responsible for the circumstances that lead to his dire straights incentivizes future suicides as it says, “suicide is a way to hurt those who hurt you.” It turns it into a weapon.
I’m open to suggestions to see justice done without incentivizing suicide, but let’s be honest here: This is already a tragedy, and it’s too late for any real justice to be done.
I want to see his family taken care of, and I hope those responsible for his debts know who they are and recognize that their glibness and negligence lead to this. However, I want to avoid the knee-jerk reactions that happen after tragedies.
‘Bout damn time we got some common sense in the government. I’m pleased that this one ended well.
Too bad that all those responsible for these bad actions will never be held accountable. If they had an ounce of honor, none of this would have happened and the Fernandez family would not be having to live with the consequences of their stupidity and incompetence.
It’s a shame that the marones responsible for this bit of stupidity won’t be found out unless someone decides to do a tell-all story – something like that. They don’t care who gets hurt as long as it isn’t THEM, or the media get an earful of it and then there’s probably a lot of finger-pointing we’ll never see.