Sgt. Phillip Boyer heard "rumors" that many Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers activated earlier for Iraq and Afghanistan had faced pay problems. But even as he prepared to leave for Iraq in late September, Boyer wasn't concerned.

As pay administrator for the Army Reserve 209th Broadcast Public Affairs Detachment in Rome, Ga., Boyer says he recently had received some valuable training for handling unit pay records during activation.

"When we mobilize, we fall under an active Army command and active Army pay and finance people, and, yes, they are not familiar with the reserve system, codes, and pays. That, in turn, causes problems for reserve soldiers. But that's where people in my position need to be proactive and flexible and persistent to make sure things get taken care of," Boyer says.

Boyer's confidence is echoed by Patrick Shine, director of military and civilian pay services for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) in Indianapolis. Yes, there were problems, he says. But, for now, they're fixed.

"I just want to make sure the troops know that at the home station, at the mobilization site, and when they're in country, they are going to find trained finance people all along the way," Shine says.

The assurances are seen as necessary in light of recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits that found more than 90 percent of soldiers from a sampling of activated Army Guard and Reserve units had faced significant pay errors. Most of them had received overpayments, which had to be returned. But there were underpayments and delays as well.

In reports released in November 2003, and more recently this past July, the GAO said the errors had hit tens of thousands and "often had a profound adverse impact" on soldiers and families. Soldiers spent a lot of time while deployed, even in remote and hostile environments, trying to correct errors.

Shine says the GAO correctly identified the causes of the pay problems as falling into three categories: staffing, processes, and an obsolete pay system. He says the first two have been addressed. The third, however, replacing what Shine describes as "a 1969-vintage cobol software program," will take longer - even a temporary fix can't be completed until next March. But for the most part, he adds, the widespread pay hassles have been corrected and should not affect future rotations of reserve component forces.

Shine says both the Army and DFAS have worked diligently in recent months to improve pay administration and processes within units, at mobilization and demobilization sites, and at DFAS. This, together with additional pay record data checks and safeguards, should be able to ensure accuracy while making long-term system deficiencies invisible to deploying forces.

The GAO found that reserve pay processes and controls for activated units were "inherently flawed" and criticized a lack of accountability for the accuracy of soldiers' pay records at almost each and every step of mobilization. In particular, sloppy procedures in documenting whether soldiers had returned home resulted in numerous overpayments of hardship duty pay, according to the GAO.

The current Defense Joint Military Pay System actually is two systems, one for active duty and one for reserves. Shine says the reserve system "was designed just to pay people for weekend drills once a month and two weeks active-duty-for-training once a year."

Errors blossomed during early troop rotations into Afghanistan and Iraq, in part because they deployed without personnel trained to work the cumbersome reserve pay system.

The long-term solution is a single network for all military pay and personnel systems, active and reserve. Because it is still years away, DFAS and the services will adopt an interim combined active and reserve pay system in phases, starting with Army reserve components next spring.

Pay officials advise servicemembers to review leave and earnings statements routinely.

Irregularities should be reported up the chain of command. If a pay problem persists, Army Reserve and National Guard members now can contact a special ombudsman hot line. The number for Army National Guard members is (877) 276-4729; Army reservists should call (877) 462-7782 or DSN (312) 280-6466.

Tom Philpott is a freelance writer and syndicated news columnist. His column, "Military Update," appears in 48 daily newspapers throughout the United States and overseas.