Rieth, who heads the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), said the reporting inaccuracies were discovered during an internal audit conducted by the Department in keeping with Governor McGreevey's directive to identify and eliminate waste and mismanagement in all state agencies. 

The audit discovered that the previous administration had over-reported the actual number of New Jersey Army National Guard personnel by 864 personnel. The audit also found that 489 soldiers who should have been discharged months ago were still being reported as active members. An additional 375 soldiers who had not attended training for more than three months also were reported as active.

"A Discharge Review Board will investigate each of these cases and ensure that appropriate action is taken and only actual strength figures are reported," said Rieth. "The Governor's direction to me has been very clear- the only acceptable standard is complete and accurate reporting," Rieth said. "We are meeting that standard." 

Rieth further stated that the recently implemented corrective actions will ensure accurate reporting in the future.

A federal General Accounting Office (GAO) report, dated March 20, 2002, also found overstated strength figures for the New Jersey Army National Guard in 2000 and 2001. 

Based on the findings of the Department's internal audit, Rieth notified the National Guard Bureau of the situation and informed the Bureau that the inaccuracies in reporting had been corrected.

As of today, the Department discharged the 489 soldiers erroneously reported as active. The Department established a Discharge Review Board, headed by the State Command Sergeant Major, CSM Richard Adkins, to investigate the 375 soldiers who have not attended training to determine if they will be returned to duty or discharged. 

The inaccurate reporting of personnel did not result in individuals receiving payment to which they were not entitled, but it did result in the State receiving federal funding to which it was not entitled.