As soldiers continue to fight for justice for the often-wrongful prosecution under the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP) they still will ultimately meet their demise when up against the US Army’s debarment board.

With the increase of media attention on government   Every year Congress receives reports from each agency (e.g.. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Defense Intelligence Agency etc.) regarding their debarment procedures.  A federal debarment is essentially a non-judicial process in which a small panel (can consist of 1-2 people) reviews the behavior of an individual or entity after being pursued by either the agency’s inspector general or investigative authorities such as CID.  The debarment typically lasts for three years and keeps that person or entity from engaging in any government contracts.

While this may seem insignificant if that individual does not actively engage in government contracts it is actually quite damaging.  Debarment prohibits the individual from participating in a government contract as a person, an entity or even as a lead representative of an entity.  It also prohibits them from being federally insured or even applying for a small business loan.  An individual’s credit rating is affected; debarred individuals cannot work in an organization that receives government funding (such as a hospital or university); a home loan is all but out of the question. This punishment is imposed without any type of judicial process and is carried out at the discretion of the debarment board.  Furthermore, the legal fees associated with fighting a proposed debarment are immense, with specialized attorneys running $800-1000/hr.

To make matters worse, each agency’s ability to manage their contracts are determined by the quantity of debarments they hand out each year.  The more debarments an agency hands out, the more Congress believes they are managing their contracts properly and are more likely to give them more money the following fiscal year.  In short, the agency is incentivized by Congress to debar as many people as possible.  However, there are a few things that keep them from debarring a company.  If one agency debars a company, that company or individual is banned from participating in ALL government contracts.  Therefore, if IBM or a similar sized company is debarred it could create damaging effects on other agencies that may wish to do business with those companies.   In turn, agencies are less likely to debar a large corporation than a small business or individual. So, the more in bed you are with the government, the more protected you become.

On top of the incentive to debar individuals, investigators are also incentivized to punish soldiers and or contractors.  Investigative agents from CID or the Office of the Inspector General essentially receive kudos based on how many convictions, whether criminal or through the debarment process, they process.  Their performance evaluations are based on numbers, not justice.  This creates an environment in which investigators look for reasons why someone might be guilty and often pin them with a crime and then manipulate evidence so it matches their charges.  In the case of the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP) the majority of the CID agents are reserve soldiers or civilian personnel being paid for the sole purpose of conducting investigations.  Once they are unable to bring indictments or charges they will lose their jobs.

Because the US Army has been put in the limelight with their mismanagement of the G-RAP program they are now under Congressional pressure to punish a large volume of individuals to show they are doing something about the mismanagement of the government contract.  Because Docupak is a large corporation, the US Army has omitted them from any debarment or punitive action.  Instead, they are shifting blame to the soldiers.  Since the US Army controls the debarment process and the fate of the soldiers are based on the decisions of the US Army’s Debarment Board they can essentially punish them without any sort of actual judicial process.  Even those who are acquitted in the court system are still subject to punishment by the US Army, without any form of due process.

In reality Docupak should be in the crosshairs for debarment.  The Army’s own Audit Report states how they grossly mismanaged the contract as well as a number of guidelines and laws that were broken through the procurement and management of the program.  In addition, LTC Hensen, the contracting officer who granted the contract to Docupak, left the Guard to work for Docupak, a practice that is illegal unless very strict guidelines are followed.  Further, through all of this the generals, who implemented a program that was against the Anti Deficiency Act, that paid out bounties to soldiers, which is illegal, that created a confusing environment in which soldiers were subject to violating guidelines, have yet to be punished in any way shape or form.  Instead, they are laying the blame on the soldiers in an effort to shift blame to others.

On April 23rd, 2015 General Petraeus (ret.) received sentence of two years probation and a fine of $100,000.  His crime? Releasing highly classified information to his mistress.

Now, let’s step back and think about the crime here. Petreaus, knowingly and willingly gave out classified information pertaining to the CIA that jeopardized national security, put American lives and operations at risk, and was all done in an effort to maintain an affair, and boost his own biography.  For Petraeus, this is a mere slap on the wrist and his next book or a couple of speeches will more than cover what he owes to the US government.  Note that his retirement from the US Army will still be paid in full (Generals receive the salary they earned while in the military into retirement), his honorable discharge will remain and he will still be known as the General who led the charge in Iraq and Afghanistan, now with just a little bit of a black eye.  In short, prosecutors gave him more of a warning than anything and will allow him to carry out his days in ease.

In 2013, Col Gregg Davies of the Arizona Air National Guard was ordered to pay back wages that he and 20 other guard members were accused of stealing totaling $1.4 million.  According to an indictment provided by the US Attorney’s Office, Col. Davies and his subordinate officers falsified documents to receive a higher home-of-record pay from the Air Force.  These individuals fraudulently received between $10,000-$90,000 between November 2007 and September 2010.  What is striking about this is that these members of the National Guard, knowingly and deliberately took money from the US government and their punishment was to simply pay it back.  The US Attorney’s Office stated that the lack of punishment imposed was due to the fact that the cost of trying the individuals would have been too high and that they were all fighter pilots who would be costly to replace.  In this instance the ranks and positions of the National Guard members allowed them to keep from being criminally prosecuted.

Now compare these two instances to the National Guard members being prosecuted and punished by CID and the US Attorney’s Office.  In most cases, the crimes the individuals are being accused of are based on weak, faulty evidence for their participation in a flawed program that the National Guard emplaced.  Not only that, but the US Government is spending millions of dollars* each year to ensure these soldiers are prosecuted and sent to jail.  So far the US Government has spent upwards of $40 million to retrieve just over $900,000 in restitution** and have sent countless soldiers to prison.  In these instances soldiers are being prosecuted for their participation in a program that ran from 2006-2012, almost the same time frame as the Arizona National Guard soldiers.  In addition they are being charged for theft of government funds between $2,000 and $100,000, around the same amount if not less than the Arizona National Guard soldiers.  Finally they are being prosecuted for participating, most often in good faith, in a sanctioned program under the direction of the National Guard.

What our judicial system and National Guard leadership show us is that they aren’t interested as much as the nature of the alleged crime, but more so, who committed the crime.  If you are an officer, or a General you get a slap on the wrist, even if you knowingly committed a crime.  But, if you are an innocent lower enlisted soldier you are going to go to jail and be forced out of the military for participating in the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP).  If there is any doubt to this hypothesis then we should revisit the fact that no senior National Guard leadership have been prosecuted for their participation G-RAP even though CID identified them for conducting fraudulent activity.

*University of New Hampshire (4/12) report that the costs to prosecute a single white collar crime is $15,000 – $20,000.

** NGAUS: The Investigations and an Injection of Reality.pdf

The scope of the G-RAP investigation is costing taxpayers. Millions of dollars are being spent looking at the wrong people and lives are being destroyed.

The average cost of investigating a single financial crime is $15,000-$20,000. By that measure, investigating even 1% of the 109,000 individuals who participated in G-RAP program, is costing taxpayers $15million-$20million.

But the millions used for the CID investigations, prosecutions and incarcerations are just the beginning. Any soldier convicted of a felony will receive a dishonorable discharge from the Army. However, there are a number of instances in which soldiers who have not been convicted are still being forcefully separated as the National Guard races to show that they are ‘doing something.’ There is no ‘innocent until proven guilty’ for these men and women.

Replacing these soldiers will cost taxpayers a minimum of $57,500 to train each new soldier and up to $1,400,000 to train for Special Forces. If only half of those investigated are separated, it will cost at least $100 million to replenish our troops.

So is it all worth it? As of Feb 4, 2014, there were 28 convictions, accounting for $29million.* And, the cost to taxpayers is only the beginning. What about the cost to those accused?

In addition to the tangible costs of defense attorneys (quickly adding up to tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars) and, for many, an inability to work (as firearms may not be used when one is charged with a felony), there are also the intangible costs to the vilified soldiers and their families as reputations are being sullied and they endure months of stressful investigations and prosecutions. In several instances, even after cases being declined by the US attorney, charges dismissed, and soldiers acquitted and fully exonerated by National Guard Separation boards, an overzealous CID is taking administrative punitive actions using GOMAR and debarment letters. These letters affect a soldier forever, destroying careers and reputations.

Finally, there is the cost to morale within the National Guard as a whole. There are approximately 438,000 members in the National Guard; around 109,000 took part in the program. That means that 23% of our National Guard stands to be investigated and wrongfully prosecuted (86,000 have already been investigated). The message these soldiers have received is that they are not trusted by the National Guard and cannot trust their own command. This particular cost cannot be underestimated. For an institution built on an ethos of trust and honor through the ranks, the erosion of this principle by commanders seeking to escape blame by scapegoating soldiers could be devastating in combat.

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*The number of convictions is now closer to 40—still an underwhelming number when trying to justify the sacrifice of thousands of innocents.

Let’s pretend for moment that the “G-RAP V2 Training Modules” existed before soldiers started being investigated for their work as RAs (recruiting assistants) for the Army National Guard. That version of the rules didn’t exist, but for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that it did, since it is the key piece of “evidence” being used to prosecute soldiers. The argument being made is that the RAs did not follow the rules outlined in V2 (which is difficult to do when they never received them).

Even if we pretend that soldiers were given V2, the rules they supposedly violated directly contradict what the Army was telling them to do.

For example, a statement from V2 being used in several cases reads: “Can I do Recruiting Assistant work while at drill or Annual Training? No. Your actions in a G-RAP capacity are independent from your role as a member of the Guard.” Meanwhile, the National Guard GX Magazine published articles offering recruiting tips for RAs, including: “Put them [potential enlistees] in the atmosphere of a drill…”

Here’s another: “Government Sponsored Unit Recruiting Events are independent from your role as an RA” (it is being argued that recruiting was not allowed at these events based on this statement). However, in a March 2006 article for Roughrider Recruiting (a magazine for Army recruiters edited and published by the National Guard GX Magazine), recruiters (RRNCOs) are advised to include RAs in upcoming Recruiting Events, saying that, “the more people we can get to your events working their sphere of influence, the better.”

Some RAs are being prosecuted for working alongside RRNCOs and taking direction from them. V2 reads: “Who do I take direction from, the RRNCO or Docupak? As an independent contractor, directives will be given by Docupak. Docupak will help guide you and provide the support you will need to be successful.” Yet, Roughrider Recruiting also encouraged RRNCOs to, “have monthly meetings with your RAs. Bring them in and go over prospecting techniques, closing techniques, benefits, etc.”

Now consider that the Army has a culture of following orders. With no communication nor the alleged “support” coming from Docupak and no guidelines to follow, it’s no wonder that the accused soldiers are feeling confused and betrayed.

In 2012 the US Army Criminal Investigative Command created Task Force Raptor to investigate the soldiers who participated in Guard Recruiting Assistance Program.  Task Force Raptor consists of roughly 200 CID agents who are pulled from Active Duty, Reserves and the civilian sector.  These agents were ordered to investigate all 109,000 Recruiting Assistance Program participants, starting with those who received the highest funds first and then to start working their way down.  To date these agent’s actions have lead to the prosecution of thousands of soldiers.  However, it’s not always done legally.

The participants of Task Force Raptor are comprised of a large majority of Reserve Army Soldiers and civilian contractors.  That means these individuals are given the job of finding and prosecuting soldiers and once they can’t find anyone else to prosecute they will lose their jobs.  That means many of these agents are motivated by money and job security to ensure that soldiers who participated in the G-RAP program are prosecuted.  As an analog, that would be like policemen being told that as long as they arrested people who drive cars for grand-theft auto they would keep their jobs.  If that were the case there is no doubt we would instantly see a national increase of people being arrested and or prosecuted for grand-theft auto.

One must also question the cost of Task Force Raptor.  If Task Force Raptor has been going since 2012 with 200 working agents and each agent makes at least $50,000/year then tax payers are forking over $10,000,000/year just to keep the agents paid while they attempt to prosecute innocent soldiers.  That means since 2012 Task Force Raptor has cost tax payers $30,000,000 in CID agent salary alone and that’s a very conservative number.  What’s not included in that number is the cost to fly or drive the agents around the country to interview witnesses, their hotel rooms, their per diem, housing allowance and all of the other costs that go into an investigation.

The other intrinsic issue with Task Force Raptor is that it isn’t comprised of a Task Force of highly trained FBI agents who understand white-collar crime and know the norms of prosecution, investigation and what constitutes an actual crime.  Instead, these are reserve CID agents who could be just out of basic training and are used to busting small-scale crimes on local bases or on overseas deployments.  As a result the investigations are riddled with errors; CID agents often prosecute individuals who are innocent.  These agents are also pressured by the US military to ensure ongoing prosecutions or they will lose their job and be forced back into a reserve status.

In 2006 the National Guard and Docupak set up the Recruiting Assistance Program. Training consisted of a 10-minute online questionnaire that primarily focused on how to pay taxes on the earned incentive pay, what to wear when recruiting and a few do’s and don’ts of the program. Rules for G-RAP were represented in a 12-page document noted as G-RAP overview, version 1.5.

Below is a screen shot of the GX Magazine, the magazine disseminated to all of the National Guard soldiers, showing how easy it is to become a Recruiting Assistant.  Note that in this image there is no mention of any training or tests.

Nine years after the program was implemented, the US Army and prosecutors are holding soldiers responsible for violating rules that were not in existence during their participation in G-RAP. In the court discovery materials presented along with an indictment for felony theft, CID has included a never before seen Version 2 of a G-RAP handbook. CID additionally claims that these soldiers had extensive training on how to participate in the program.  However for the recruiting assistants being charged, CID produces no test results by the applicants, no proof of training, no proof of any online training, no proof that the document identified as the handbook version 2.0 even existed during G-RAP’s duration, and no proof that Docupak  (which paid the incentives to soldiers in G-RAP) ensured that proper protocols were followed.

In short soldiers are being prosecuted for a set of rules and guidelines they never received.  They were coerced into signing up for the program with a promise that the training would only take a few minutes and at the end they would even receive a $50 gift card.

Why haven’t any of the commanders who implemented the program been prosecuted for their role in the mismanagement and for inadequately training personnel who acted under their command?  Why hasn’t anyone questioned Docupak for not giving soldiers proper training to ensure they were within the program’s guidelines?  Why hasn’t Docupak been held responsible for the hundred of millions of dollars they took from the U.S. government to “manage” this program. Why hasn’t Docupak been required to repay funds for improper accessions?

When a soldier is charged for participation in the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program lives are instantly ruined and the traditional “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply.

Because soldiers dedicate their lives to serving the nation, a charge, or even worse a conviction inflicts a much higher amount of damage to their career.  The soldiers prosecuted under the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program (G-RAP) are also receiving a higher than normal amount of press for similar civilian crimes.  Everyday, rapist, murderers and thieves never make the news for incredibly heinous crimes.  Yet our nation’s soldiers, the ones who protect our very way of life, are having their names plastered across the news, Department of Justice websites and local media sources as thieves — shattering reputations and even livliehoods for just being charged.  This increased pressure causes an instant deformation of character to the accused and they often lose their jobs, are pulled from school and are shunned from their communities/workplace.

While the deformation causes a few problems the accused soldiers also have a long list of punishment that is inflicted without any due process.  Any of the soldiers who are still in the National Guard face an immediate separation from the National Guard with an other than honorable release.  Because the National Guard facilitates this separation it falls under the rules of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the soldiers are essentially guilty unless they can prove themselves innocent beyond a reasonable doubt.  In many cases the commanders conducting the separation are manipulated by higher levels of command that are most likely being pressured by Congress or other entities of the Department of Defense to show how they are handing the mismanagement of the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program.   In most cases the innocent soldiers are forced out of the National Guard under less than favorable conditions.

However, the punishment doesn’t stop there…  Most of the soldiers also carry a security clearance that is immediately suspended when criminal charges are brought against them.  Because the accused work part-time for the National Guard they typically have full-time jobs, often with the government.  When their security clearance is suspended it also affects their government positions and many of the individuals are forced to stop work until the lengthy legal matters are finalized.  Even those who are working in the civilian sector will lose their jobs or be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of their civilian trials.

Again, the punishment doesn’t stop there…  Regardless of the outcome of the soldiers’ civilian trials they will receive a debarment letter from the U.S. Army that bans them for working for the U.S. government as a contractor for a set period of time.  Individuals whose careers are in the public sector must pay tens of thousands of dollars in order to attempt to appeal the debarment in hopes that the Army will allow them to return to their jobs.  This is of course on top of the legal fees they face in their civilian trials.  More often than not these soldiers are being debarred from contracting and lose their ability to generate an income.

It is important to note that all of this occurs without any due process to the soldier.  The mere accusation that they participated in a criminal manner under the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program means they must spend thousands of dollars, lose their jobs, be kicked out of the National Guard and face a life of shame.  Even those who are able to prove their innocence will never get back the money they spend, the jobs they lost or the reputations they built and the National Guard will do their best to make sure of it.  CID has been tasked with the job of ensuring each soldier is brought to “justice” and they will ensure that happens regardless of whether or not the solider is guilty.

Although top-level Army audits cite mismanagement at the top as the primary reason for G-RAP’s failures, the contractor (Docupak) continues to do business with the government; commanders who implemented the G-RAP program and even high-ranking officers who participated in the program will receive promotions. Congress will praise commanders for how they “ferreted out fraud.” Those actually responsible are not being held accountable for their actions. Instead, these facilitators will slip quietly into retirement while the innocent soldiers who are prosecuted for their participation in the program will continue a life of shame and debt.  These soldiers will forever be marked as criminals and their past and service to the National Guard will always haunt them.

Soldiers participating in the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program were illegally incentivized by the National Guard for their participation in the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program in a number of different ways to include awards, paid days off and gifts purchased by the National Guard.

According to the Department of Defense’s guidelines “The government may award government personnel using a variety of methods, ranging from certificates of appreciation to time off and a monetary bonus. The government does not have the same authority to recognize contractor employees.”

It is important to note that the soldiers were working as contactor employees and as such, they were not entitled to awards by the US government. However, as shown below, many soldiers such as SGT Dana Kline, received military medals for their involvement acting as contractors for the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program.

In another instance the Oregon National Guard (ORARNG) offered the Red Leg Challenge where they offered to give soldiers paid days off for successfully recruiting individuals into the National Guard. As shown below, the ORARNG provided soldiers with paid days off for their actions conducted as a government contractor. Not only is this a form of a gift but the National Guard cannot pay a solider as a soldier for something they do as a contractor. Further, the soldiers were incentivized with gifts in the form of a backpack which also violated DoD guidelines. Again, the National Guard illegally incentivized soldiers to participate in the G-RAP program.

While the National Guard illegally incentivized soldiers to participate in the G-RAP program, no leadership has been questions or held accountable for their actions or for implementing an illegal program. Instead, the soldiers who participated in the program and being criminally prosecuted for a set of rules and guidelines that was inherently misleading.

According to the February 2014 congressional testimony, one Major General committed fraud; 18 full Colonels, 11 Lieutenant Colonels and dozens of other mid-level and Junior Officers also potentially committed fraud under the Recruiting Assistance Program. During the hearing Senator McCaskill confronted National Guard and Army leadership regarding the omission of prosecution towards officers and senior leadership:

“Senator McCaskill– To your knowledge, have any of them gone to prison?

General Quantock– No, ma’am. To my knowledge, none have gone to prison.

Senator McCaskill– Have any of them lost benefits, to your knowledge?

General Quantock– No, ma’am, not to my knowledge.

Senator McCaskill– Have any of them been forced to resign from their service?

General Quontock– I would have to take that one for the record, ma’am.”

02 February 2014 FCO Hearing Transcript Page 27.

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It is clear that only enlisted soldiers have been investigated and or prosecuted in an evident move by the National Guard and US Army leadership to transfer blame to lower enlisted personnel.

This is further exacerbated by the fact that the entire Recruiting Assistance Program was later deemed to be illegally acquired by the military as it was granted under a sole sourced award to Docupak. However, even though the program was illegally procured, mismanaged and violated Anti Deficiency Act guidelines no leadership has been reprimanded held accountable or questioned for their involvement or implementation of the program. This shows that leadership has used enlisted soldiers to mask their actions and thwart prosecution.   If the leadership truly sought justice all soldiers, regardless of rank should be held accountable for either participating in the program or for mismanaging a program in which they claim wide spread fraud occurred.

It is evident that the leadership will continue to use soldiers and punish soldiers regardless of whether or not they conducted illegal activity in an effort to direct congress away from their own actions and deficiencies.

Soldiers prosecuted on a never before distributed handbook

Soldiers are being prosecuted for their participation in the Recruiting Assistance Program based on a handbook that CID claims they received that outlined the Do’s and Don’ts of the program.

In the prosecuted soldiers’ discovery is a never before seen handbook listed as Version 2.0. We have further discrepancies of the Version 2 handbook being used for prosecution and how it differs from the widely distributed Version 1.5 handbook however this blog focuses on the fact that no handbook was ever distributed.

In 2011 a Recruiting Assistant named David Remsberg sued Docupak

In 2012, an Army audit revealed that the recruiting program, sole-sourced to Docupak, had, in fact been awarded illegally. The Army Audit also found that controls implemented by Docupak to be deficient in 88% of all enlistments they processed. A memo from U.S. Senate staff before the 2/4/14 hearings, stated that the Army had concluded that RAP-related Anti-Deficiency Act violations amounted to $386 million roughly 70% of what they were paid for the program. The Audit also recommended that Docupak repay close to $500,000 in cancelled enlistments.

However, shortly after the Army Audit shared its findings, Lt General William Ingram, Lt General and Director of the National Guard, issued a memo to all Adjutants General of state National Guards, ordering a systematic investigation of soldiers. Why did General Ingram take the substance of an Audit, which clearly pointed the finger at Docupak, and shift that blame to soldiers doing exactly what they were asked – in some cases ordered – to do?

The logic of all of this is hard to explain. Docupak, theoretically responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars being misspent, has, to date, been held harmless. Our soldiers, our national heroes, are in the cross hairs for receiving a few thousand dollars each; money they had been told was just and due them for their recruiting efforts. What is the likelihood that thousands of soldiers were intentionally scamming the country they honorably serve, and for which they are willing to sacrifice their lives, for a few thousand dollars?

As yet, no one who endorsed, implemented or oversaw the G-RAP contract has been prosecuted, punished or held accountable in any way. The only persons being punished are the soldiers who carried out tasks they were asked, sometimes ordered to take on, based on a set of rules that appeared after the program was completed.