Navy retirees system error: Must repay $7 million, benefits cut
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The federal government is attempting to recoup almost $7 million from more than 1,200 people who retired from the Navy after it discovered a system error had given them larger monthly payments than they were due for almost four years, officials said Monday.
The Navy Times first reported the error, which resulted in incorrect service time calculations for 1,283 retirees from August 2019 to February.
That error created a total debt of about $6.8 million, according to new data obtained by NBC News. The personal debts incurred range from $35 to more than $70,000, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service said Monday.
The agency — which oversees payments to Defense Department personnel and retirees — said it plans to recover the money and that it will issue official debt notifications, containing information on how to pay the debt or request a waiver, to affected retirees this week.
Some retirees are bracing to be billedtens of thousands of dollars. All have seen reductions in their monthly retirement incomes due to the corrected error.
"It's a double whammy," said Devin Morrison, 52, who was the executive officer of the Naval Medical Center in San Diego before he retired in 2021.
His net pay went down by about $762 from March to April. He has not yet received his official debt letter but expects he will have to pay back about $30,000.
Morrison, who took a job in the private sector after his retirement, has since reduced his 401(k) contribution by 10% to increase his monthly disposable income while he reviews his new smaller budget.
"Through no fault of my own, I'm going to be saddled with this pretty significant bill," he said. "That's a hard pill to swallow."
The Navy said the error began when its personnel system sent incorrect data to the DFAS. The retirees' inactive reserve service time was incorrectly counted as active-duty creditable service, which led to larger monthly paychecks.
"From there, the Navy thoroughly investigated the issue, determined the affected population and decided on corrective actions," Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, a Navy Personnel Command spokesperson, said in a statement.
"This process took time and was important to ensure we did not negatively affect someone's pay without understanding the scope of the issue," he added.
The DFAS said the median amount of overpayment is $2,700. It said the debt notification letter would detail circumstances in which interest would be charged.
If a retiree does not take any action after receiving the official notification, the agency said it can involuntarily deduct from the person's monthly benefit at a rate of 15% of net disposable pay. It also said the Defense Department "retains the right to pursue other collection methods, as necessary."
The system error affecting Navy retirees is the latest administrative oversight to come to light in the last few weeks.
At least 65 dentists and physicians with the Navy Reserves have been told they owe at least three more years of service after an error was discovered in how their retirement credits had been calculated, NBC News previously reported.
In late April, Army officials said more than 600 aviation officers are being held to another three years of service after they noticed a similar record-keeping error.
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No, wrong. It is unfair to try to correct a mistake after all this time. The government needs to be more competent and not correct its mistakes at the expense of the people (and especially those who served).
It's the Biden government that is doing this. You would think the commander-in-chief would do something to resolve this in favor of the retirees.
If this was for more "woke" types maybe the Biden Administration would care
Yes, Greg, Biden is the current PotUS so this is his government.
No, it's the Navy and they would be doing the same fucking shit no matter who was sitting in the Oval Office. Other than the scope of the issue this is pretty standard procedure for the military. Someone in pay and personnel fucks up and the service member gets screwed. I have first hand experience in being over paid and how the collections process works.
Maybe, but I'm pretty sure this would have to go through Congress. The same as the COVID loan forgiveness did and Republicans want the school loan forgiveness to do. Perhaps the President and/or Adm Gilday can put a freeze on it and push Congress to act. I won't hold my breath.
If this was for anti-woke types the right wing populists would start a go fund me campaign.
same here. Finance gave me too much cash before I went on a TDY. I didn't know it was too much until I got back and was ordered to repay about a hundred of it back. I didn't have it. Give an airman a lot of dough and she's gonna spend it
This really sucks for these vets. Just become some Petty Officer screwed up shouldn't mean the vets should be penalized. I think the Navy should suck it up
Yes, and to add insult to injury they start charging interest.
Of course, Greg it would be Biden's fault, he personally oversaw the pay distribution for the personnel affected. But wait, look at the dates that this happened, August 2019 to Feb 2020. Well DUH.
remind me, who was in the white house back then? yeah...
The phrase "The buck stops here" is long gone. Everybody else gets blamed except the person ultimately responsible at the top. Yes, it happened in 2019 - 2020, but the DOD is yanking money out now. Sad and very pathetic.
The DoD has always taken back overpayments no matter who was in the WH. They did it in 1965 to me and many others and LBJ was president.
They did it in the 80s to my son when Reagan was president.
Was I overpaid, yes I was for three months they doubled my CP and when I was discharged they withheld it in my separation pay. Did I like it, hell no, but I was overpaid. And that is reality.
Do I like these guys getting the money taken back, no I don't but again it's reality. They should not have to pay interest and they should be given time enough so that it does not throw their life in turmoil.
they need to find out who did it and who signed off on it and then demote and/or discharge them.
Not just a petty officer. All financial transactions have to ultimately be reviewed and approved by a Navy Finance Officer.
I stand corrected. I was Air Force and didn't work in Finance. I worked in the hospital sort of
I did too, except when I was assigned to the Marines or down in Antarctica.
You mean far right wing fascists who should fuck-off and die?
Same with me also. When my wife passed away I sent a certified copy of the death certificate the the Retiree Finance Center to remove her name from my Survivor Benefit Plan and VGLI. I even went to the DEERS office at a local Army base as well. About a year later I looked at my recent pay and earnings statement and her name was still there. I immediately called the finance center and was told they never received the death certificate so I sent them another one. Also went back to the DEERS office and was assured it was taken care of. A year later I got a nasty letter from the Retiree Finance Center informing me that I had been overpaid regarding my wife and owed close to $3,000.00 and they wanted it all at once. Even when I told them it was their error it made no difference to them telling me it would be taken out of my retirement pay. I claimed financial hardship and they took it out over 6 months. Bottom line, as has already been said, When the government wants their money they will get it no matter what.
Lol I just finalised a guys TD claim today and he owes back just under $1300.00, probably going to be a bit of a shock there
I'm sure that the personnel involved are very wealthy so going after the money when it was a Navy screw up is easy. /s
Never served in the military but had friends who never came back from that manufactured war in Nam.
We later find that it was only a war (police action) invented by arms manufacturers (military industrial complex) to sell more weapons and convince China and Russia that we would spend more men and money in a non-nuclear scenario than they would.
Exactly, if Kennedy and Johnson had only listened to Eisenhower.
A police action is a BS terms invented by politicians so they can feel better and sleep at night. To those young men and women with boots in the ground in theater doing the fighting, a war is a war and there is no distinction otherwise. To me, and I am sure to others who participated in that soiree in Vietnam, it was war and it was Hell at times.
You got that absolutely right.
This is bullshit. In my years of employment (not military service), if the employer or payroll company screwed up, the employee got to keep the money ESPECIALLY being this old. If they shorted the employee, they had to give them back pay.
And the administration is now giving $11billion for rural clean energy projects. LEAVE THEIR MONEY ALONE!!!!
Nothing unusual here if you get overpaid (or underpaid) in the military the matter has to be corrected no matter how much time has passed. Although to be fair the money should be recovered over the same amount of time it took to accrue with no interest.
Was overpaid for a year 40 years ago when I was a young Pte and didn't like it but had to pay it back.
Short $7 Million. Sounds like that should come out of the flow of money heading to Ukraine and not the Veteran's retirement salary they earned.
Time to put the veterans first.
That’s not the democrat way, the mayor of NYC is throwing homeless veterans out so illegals can have their hotel rooms.