The National Guard/FlickrTwo HH-60G Pave Hawks used by the California Air National Guard.
The Air Force has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that California Air National Guard members were paid for "alert duty" after working their regular shifts - earning tens of thousands of dollars apiece for doing little more than entertaining themselves, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The Bee investigation found that while Guard members on alert status, they would surf the Web, work out, eat, talk with colleagues, watch TV, or sleep. Guard members jokingly called this "dozing for dollars."
U.S. law and military regulations prohibit double dipping during the same calendar day. Reporter Charles Piller writes:
Pilot work schedules, obtained by The Bee, also suggest that to gain so many alert shifts, all of the audited pilots routinely violated rules for 'crew rest' recognized by other units of the nation's air defense system. The rules are designed to ensure that pilots can respond safely and with optimum skill. Serving on alert duty while fatigued increases the risk of pilot error, jeopardizing human lives, costly planes and the defense mission itself.
The story noted that the commander of the 144th Fighter Wing, Col. Gary Taylor, was on pace to earn $316,000 this year - more than double his salary. Auditors estimated that more than 40 percent of his recent income was improper, the newspaper said. Taylor has since left the Guard.
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