On November 3, the U.S. Army announced that it may have incorrectly added 1,900 soldiers’ names to criminal databases of the FBI and the Department of Defense during an investigation. Army officials said they will review and correct these cases by the end of the year.

“Simply put, proper procedures were not always followed,” explained Greg Ford, director of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). “We acknowledge those mistakes and are taking action to correct these records.”

While the problem appears widespread, according to the Army, the initial focus will be on 1,900 Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers who were erroneously put in criminal databases during an investigation of alleged fraud and mismanagement within military recruitment programs.

These 1,900 soldiers were among 106,364 investigated by the CID for fraudulently earning bonuses in the Army’s Guard-Recruiting Assistance Program and the Reserve Recruiting Assistance Program, which ran from 2005 to 2012 until they were shut down.

These programs were designed for soldiers to recruit people from their own communities. Part-time members of the Army could sign up to become recruiting assistants and were offered $2,000 for each recruit who joined.

From 2012 to 2016, the CID conducted over 900 reviews, resulting in 286 individuals facing administrative action while 137 were prosecuted for fraud, Army officials explained.

In an article published in Military Times, soldier Gilberto de Leon, who had participated in one of these recruitment programs, wrote that having their names added to criminal databases during the CID investigation “has ruined [soldier’s] lives and careers.”

These databases record criminal histories and are shared between state and federal law enforcement agencies, meaning that being named therein creates many hardships, such as barriers to getting a job, opening a bank account, or obtaining medical licenses.

Ford noted that relief or compensation for soldiers who were affected by CID’s mistake would be considered on an individual basis.

“Since June 2022, CID has been reviewing these cases from both an evidentiary and administrative procedural standpoint. CID is fully committed to identifying and correcting all records to align with the documentation and evidence present in the case file,” said Lieutenant Colonel Terence Kelley, Army’s director of media relations.

“CID takes our responsibilities in this area very seriously and it is clear that we fell short in a large number of these investigations,” he continued.

Ford said that the Army will review its policies, processes, and training within 90 days to ensure that future investigations are conducted correctly.