At least 65 physicians and dentists with the Navy Reserves owe at least three more years of service to the federal government due to a record-keeping error in how their retirement credits had been calculated, reports NBC News.
The discovery has angered some.
"They're trying any way possible to retain us, even if it is trying to strong-hand us," one dentist told the news outlet.
"I feel like I'm trapped," another doctor said. "It's terrible. It's unfair. It's dishonorable."
Members of the Reserves must accumulate at least 20 years of qualifying service to retire with benefits. But doctors and dentists who participated in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program were supposed to be awarded up to four years in retirement credit if they went on to join the Selected Reserve after fulfilling their active-duty service obligations.
But the Navy now says those four years can only be credited after physicians and doctors reach the required 20 years.
Navy Personnel Command last June sent a letter to those affected, saying an "error was discovered" and a "review of all program participants' records indicated that non-creditable time has been calculated as credible."
Cmdr. Rick Chernitzer, a Navy Personnel Command spokesperson, told NBC a "data migration issue" within the Navy Standard Integrated Personnel System "prematurely" awarded four years of service credit to officers.
"The four years was offered as a recruiting incentive, and to blame a migration error is a bold-faced lie," said one of the dentists.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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