Ghost soldiers
Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to absentee army troops whose names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army officers or others.[1] Soldiers may equally benefit from the corruption scheme by returning to their civilian occupations and routines while gaining marginal income.[1] The practice, however, weakens the military and makes it susceptible to military offensives and major defeats since leaders ignore the true number of available troops at their disposal on various frontlines. Severe occurrences of ghost soldiers have been cited in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries with dramatic military, humanitarian, and historic consequences.
For the World War II tactical deception unit, see Ghost Army.Historic cases[edit]
South Vietnam[edit]
Some officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War retained soldiers who had been killed or deserted for their role as "ghost soldiers". As units were allocated a set amount of rice for each soldier monthly, this allowed the officers to sell the excess rice for their own profit.[3] ARVN officers also sometimes stole the pay allocated to these non-existent soldiers. This corruption was so widespread that it led to a significant over-estimation of the size of the army.[4]