Army probes whether troops wrongly targeted in bonus scandal

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Army officials say investigators have launched a broad review of at least 1,900 National Guard and Reserve soldiers who were swept up in a recruiting bonus scandal up to a decade ago and may have been wrongly blamed and punished. Army officials announced Thursday that its Criminal Investigation Division will review all cases and correct the records. Division Director Greg Ford said that so far about 900 cases have been reviewed and a majority require some corrective action. He said proper procedures weren’t always followed during the initial investigation and soldiers’ names may have been mistakenly added to an FBI crime database and Pentagon records. Those records will be corrected, he said.