Senate Passes Amendment to Reimburse Troops
By Mandy Kozar
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6-The Senate has unanimously voted to direct the Department of Defense to reimburse soldiers who purchased their own military equipment while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The amendment to the defense spending bill, introduced by Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, calls for reimbursement of soldiers who used their own money to buy “essential military equipment.”
Although President Bush signed a bill in October 2004 that would reimburse troops who had to purchase critical safety equipment, the Department of Defense had yet to implement it at the time that Dodd put forward his amendment. Under that law, the Pentagon was supposed to comply by Feb. 25, 2005.
“I was forced to introduce this amendment,” Dodd said after the vote Wednesday, “because it has been nearly a year since this provision became the law of the land, over seven months after the Defense Department was required by law to set up a system to compensate troops for purchasing protective gear used during combat, and nothing has been done.”
The day before the Senate voted on the amendment, however, the Pentagon released a four-page memo describing its policy to reimburse troops for equipment bought after Sept. 10, 2001. and before Aug. 1, 2004.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Department of Defense spokeswoman, attributed the delay to the time it took to coordinate with the relevant military divisions.
The memo, written by Undersecretary of Defense David S.C. Chu, included a list of “shortage items” for which a member of the Armed Forces could be reimbursed up to $1,100 per service member.
Dodd, however, criticized the list as too little, too late.
“If you need any proof that the Department of Defense is coming up short, all you need to do is take a look at the list of reimbursement items,” Dodd said.
The memo lists 11 items, ranging from a $551.60 ballistic vest to a $24 hydration system.
According to Dodd’s amendment, on the other hand, soldiers could be reimbursed for a wider range of equipment that “they need to operate safely and successfully.”
The Pentagon’s policy is effective immediately, while Dodd’s amendment must pass the House of Representatives to become law.
According to Lt. Col. John R. Whitford, spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard, there was a slight delay early in the war in Connecticut units getting their specially made interceptive body armor.
“Some of the soldiers, instead of waiting to get that issued to them either they purchased it on their own or they had their families purchase it and it was shipped overseas,” Whitford said.
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