Reeder gives advice to individuals thinking of joining the military: “In this uncertain environment, be very wary of signing any type of contract,” he said. Treasury Department, and must have the debt paid off within three years. However, after being sent to collections, his credit score has been affected, dropping from 800 to around 650. He wishes that the money he owed to the government would be forgiven 'but I have a duty to pay it,' he said. SEEKING RESOLUTIONĪll Reeder wants, he said, is for his $4,000 late fee to be removed. 'DFAS also could not make accurate year-end Army financial statements because more than 16,000 financial data files had vanished from its computer system,' the report states. This isn't the first time Defense Finance and Accounting Service has faced criticism. 'We can't think about getting the kids music lessons, or plan for the future.'Ĭalifornia National Guard members won't have to pay back bonuses A HISTORY OF PROBLEMS 'This has created a lot of uncertainty for my family,' he said. Now Reeder owes $22,000 to the Treasury Department.

He incurred more than $4,000 in additional fees.Ī representative at McClintock's office did not offer comment. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the agency sent Reeder to collections. He said after seeking help from Defense Finance and Accounting Service officials, military attorneys and even U.S. 'I called over and over - and no response.' 'I called DFAS, made requests to reinstate the debt, they told me to go to a website, when I called back because the website wasn't working, they never answered the phone,' Reeder said. When he returned to the United States last November and requested his debt be reinstated so he could begin to pay off the $17,000 sum, Defense Finance and Accounting Service 'made it impossible' to pay the debt, Reeder said. When his contract ended a few months early in 2014, Reeder owed roughly $9,000 in unearned salary and $8,000 in income taxes. 'I didn't want her to worry about that on top of all the things she has to do,' Reeder said. In 2010, Reeder signed a four-year, $25,000-per-year lump sum annual contract, which included deployment to the Middle East.ĭuring his deployment, Reeder requested that Defense Finance and Accounting Service suspend his payments so his wife, with three children aged 12, 7 and 4, would not have to pay the agency while Reeder was away. It was Reeder's latest contract, signed in 2010, that has been the crux of his financial woes. If a contract ended early, by either the government's termination or his own, he was expected to return any unearned portions. He routinely took on contracts that included signing bonuses that were delivered in lump sums at the start of the contracts. He has been a reservist for the past 19 years, having served as a pilot in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Reeder enlisted in the Air Force Academy in 1993 and completed training in 1997. Reeder is facing a different kind of debt - one that he says highlights 'systemic dysfunction' at Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and has caused strife for his family, which includes three young children.ĭefense Finance and Accounting Service has not returned calls from IndyStar. Reeder, 44, spoke with IndyStar after reading national stories about the Pentagon requiring former California National Guard members to repay enlistment bonuses that were improperly distributed. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter suspended those repayment efforts after his department came under fire, USA TODAY reported. Reeder, a Sacramento, Calif.-based Air Force reservist and pilot, said he must return about $22,000 after some of his military contracts ended early. The agency, which is part of the Defense Department, handles most of the military's payroll and debt collections. Now, he’s battling the federal government to pay back a debt made worse, he said, by Indianapolis-based Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Col. Chris Reeder spent last year fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Reeder music academy