By Carl Surran
More Debt-Ridden Troops Held Back From Overseas Duty
Spring 2007
The number of U.S. troops barred from overseas duty because of deep personal debt has climbed substantially in recent years, according to an Associated Press report based on a review of military records.
Data supplied by the Air Force, Navy and Marines show that the combined number of security clearances revoked for financial reasons rose every year between 2002 and 2005, climbing from 284 at the start of the period to 2,654 in 2005. Results for 2006 were incomplete but partial numbers indicated that the trend was continuing. The Army did not provide data, maintaining such information is confidential.
Financial problems are the overwhelming reason security clearances are revoked, triggered when debt payments reach 30 percent to 40 percent of salary (the exact amount depends on the branch of service). Military members who fall deeply into debt are considered vulnerable to bribery or treason and can be stripped of clearances they may need to serve overseas.
The debt difficulties have increased despite crackdowns on payday lenders often clustered outside military installations around the country. The 2007 Defense Authorization Act caps annual interest rates on loans to military borrowers and their families at 36 percent.
The services routinely provide financial counseling to their members. “Every time we go in and do an indoctrination brief, there is instruction or training in place to give them some of the pitfalls of debt,” the report quotes Terry Harris, a personal finance educator at Pensacola Naval Air Station. “We do inform them about the pitfalls of security clearances being lost to that.”
Apparently, too many are not really listening.
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