The State - News from June 15, 1988

About 250 soldiers given heroes’ welcomes when they returned to Fort Ord from Honduras in April were handed a nasty shock when they opened their monthly paychecks--they were about $150 short because the Army deducted their ration allowance while they were in Central America on training exercises. “Many who were relying on separate rations may have experienced a shortfall,” an Army spokesman said. The 250 troops were married soldiers belonging to, or temporarily assigned to, the 7th Light Infantry Division’s 3rd Battalion, 27th Infantry. All the soldiers receive an allowance for separate rations, but the Army is required to recover the money when they are soldiering and eating field rations or Army chow, the spokesman said.