WATERLOO - They're the Iowa National Guard - so called weekend warriors.

Yet they're tour in Iraq had them away from home longer than many active duty soldiers, who get a lot of benefits.

Overseas, Guard soldiers like Specialist J Winkowski, from Belle Plaine, were told they'd get those benefits. At home the story changed, however.

"Oh it definitely decreased moral a whole lot, especially from a lengthy deployment like we had, morale was pretty low as it was," said Winkowski.

At home, the government told Winkowski he and others didn't qualify for educational benefits under the G-I Bill because their orders weren't long enough. In some cases, just one day short.

For Winkowski that meant getting less than half of the $1,200 a month he would get with full benefits to pay for education.

Representative Bruce Braley asked top military officials what happened, saying the guard soldiers are worked just like active duty soldiers.

"But they don't get the same benefits as active duty personnel, they don't get the same type of training and that's wrong," said Braley.

In the end, Braley says it just didn't occur to top officials that the guard soldiers would end up qualifying for so many benefits after their service.

Instead of taking the usual ten months to fix a problem like this, the pentagon took only a week.

Soldiers like Winkowski say it's restored some faith that the government has their best interest in mind, but not all.

Email Justin Foss at Justin.Foss@kcrg.com