Holly Petraeus at Fort Campbell

Holly Petraeus, wife of the four star general and next CIA director, has taken on a pretty big job herself. She’s overseeing an office focused on service members in the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Petraeus has been visiting military installations and was at Fort Campbell Wednesday.

Like many Army posts, just outside Fort Campbell are used car lots, payday lenders and signs advertising special deals for soldiers.

“For one thing, they are a target. And they are a target because they have an absolutely guaranteed paycheck.”

Holly Petraeus says that paycheck may not be big, but it comes every two weeks. And soldiers like Staff Sgt. David Madeux can even set up payments to come directly from their paycheck.

“It was like $189 a month, plus, for three years.”

…for a laptop he used to talk to his family while deployed.

“I thought, this will be easy. I’ll pay it off before I get back. But I didn’t realize how much I was paying.”

Law enforcement officials say for-profit colleges are pushing soldiers into programs harder than ever and payday lenders have found ways around interest rate caps. Holly Petraeus says the number one cause for military security clearance being revoked is now financial problems.

Tennessee AG Gets Restitution for Scammed Soldiers

Soldiers at Fort Campbell who were scammed by a now-bankrupt computer store are getting some restitution. The Tennessee Attorney General is distributing more than a million dollars to some 600 soldiers who bought laptops from the company.

Attorney General Bob Cooper says soldiers were overcharged through the long-term payment plans.

“In one instance, a soldier actually bought a computer, was killed in action in Iraq, but the finance company kept billing that deceased soldier’s family and adding finance charges for several months after his death.”

Cooper appeared alongside Petraeus, who has asked for help from state attorneys general as part of her job.