Pentagon halts effort to recover Guard enlistment bonuses

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday suspended a Pentagon order that California National Guardsmen repay thousands of dollars in enlistment bonuses and tuition assistance they had received by mistake more than a decade ago. "While some soldiers knew or should have known they were ineligible for benefits they were claiming, many others did not," Carter, who is in Europe meeting with U.S. allies, said in a statement. Thousands of California National Guard troops had been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses - some of more than $15,000 - that were improperly given to them.