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A r u b a ’ s O N L Y E n g l i s h n e w s p a p e r
Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper
Army probes whether troops wrongly A nod to Aruba’s icons

targeted in bonus scandal during Aruba Art Fair

The Pentagon is seen from Air Force One as it flies over Washington, March 2, 2022. Years after
about 1,900 National Guard and Reserve soldiers were swept up in a recruting bonus scandal, U.S.
Army investigators have launched a review saying that some individuals may have been wrongly Page 7
blamed and punished, The Associated Press has learned.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

By Lolita C. Baldor probe involving 100,000 people and hun- Aruba National Park
Associated Press dreds of thousands of dollars in potentially
WASHINGTON (AP) — Years after about fraudulent bonus payments. Foundation continued with
1,900 National Guard and Reserve sol- “Simply put, proper procedures were not
diers were swept up in a recruiting bonus always followed,” CID Director Greg Ford consultation process for
scandal, U.S. Army investigators are re- said in a statement provided to the AP.
viewing the cases and correcting records Ford said Thursday that so far CID has re- management of Marine Park
because some individuals were wrongly viewed cases of about 900 individuals,
blamed and punished, Army officials said and a majority of them require some type
Thursday. The Army’s Criminal Investiga- of corrective action. He said that up to 200
tion Division said it will complete a review of those have been completed and cor-
of the bulk of the 1,900 soldiers by the end rected, and individuals will be notified. He
of this year to identify and begin to fix the said “a number” of individuals contacted
mistakes. CID said agents during the initial CID early this year saying they believed
investigation may have misunderstood they were wrongly listed on the FBI data-
facts or failed to follow proper procedures base, and as agents began to review the
and erroneously added soldiers’ names files they found problems with the cases.
to an FBI crime database and Pentagon As a result, he said he ordered a review of
records. Officials said that at the time, all cases.
CID agents were grappling with a massive Continued on Page 2 Page 11