US Army’s ‘Stop-Loss’ Orders Up Dramatically Over Last Year
WASHINGTON - The number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army involuntarily under the military’s controversial “stop-loss” program has risen sharply since the Pentagon extended combat tours last year, officials said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was briefed about the program by Army officials who said that thousands of new stop-loss orders were issued to keep soldiers from leaving the service after Gates ordered combat tours extended from 12 to 15 months last spring.
The Army has resorted to involuntary extensions of soldiers’ enlistment terms to prevent them from leaving immediately before a combat tour or in the middle of a deployment.
Army officials have argued that the policy is necessary to ensure that they are not forced to send inadequately trained soldiers and unprepared units into war.
However, many soldiers subjected to the stop-loss policy consider it a backdoor draft. Critics argue that once soldiers have completed the enlistment period they agreed to, they should be allowed to return home. The involuntary retention program is so unpopular that it helped inspire a recent movie called “Stop-Loss.”
The number of soldiers held in the Army under the stop-loss program reached a high in March 2005 of 15,758. That number steadily declined through May 2007, when it hit 8,540. But since then, the number of soldiers subjected to stop-loss orders began to increase again, reaching 12,235 in March 2008.
In April 2007, Gates ordered combat tours extended to support the U.S. troop buildup and to address concerns about uneven tour lengths. But because many soldiers were due to leave the service at the end of their combat tours, Army officials had to order them under stop-loss provisions to remain.
In a news conference Thursday, Gates said he believed the Army had good reasons for using the stop-loss policy.
“They don’t like it any better than I do. But it has proven necessary in order to maintain the force,” Gates said.
Still, he said, use of the policy “is an issue. It troubles me.” Top Defense officials have pushed the Army to reduce the use of stop-loss orders.
“When somebody expects to leave at a given time, and you tell them they can’t do that, it’s got to have an impact on them. And that’s the part that troubles me,” Gates said.
Soldiers subjected to stop-loss orders are often those whose enlistment period ends during a combat tour or who are due to leave within 90 days of the scheduled start of a combat tour. Without the stop-loss policy, the Army would have to replace those soldiers with new ones who had not trained with the unit.
Between 2002 and 2007, 58,300 soldiers were given stop-loss orders, forcing them to remain in the service past the end of their enlistment periods.
The number of soldiers serving under the stop-loss program will begin to decline again in September, Gates said. By then, there will be fewer U.S. troops in Iraq and Army combat tours will return to 12 months.
Army officials could not predict when they would no longer need to resort to stop-loss orders. But as troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan shrink, the policy will become less necessary, officials say.
The Army first used a stop-loss program in 1990 during the run-up to the Persian Gulf War. In 2002, the Army instituted stop-loss orders for certain specialties, a policy that ended in 2003. The current stop-loss program was put in place just before the invasion of Iraq.
Gates said that about half of the soldiers kept in the Army under the stop-loss policy are noncommissioned officers who hold important leadership positions, at the rank of sergeant and above, and cannot easily be replaced.
“And so if you pull them, if they left a unit, it would leave a pretty gaping hole while still deployed,” Gates said.
© 2008 The Los Angeles Times
ALOHA !!
“Backdoor DRAFT” for a “Backdoor WAR” …
This “WAR ON TERROR” has absolutely no resemblance to any of the past REAL WARS like WW2! The only ones sacrificing are the soldiers in combat and their families. The rest of us just sit around pondering who the next American Idol will be!
Stop Loss is an abuse used to prop up the cowardly George Bush and extend the war until he has left office. Somehow Bush believes that his money and influence will allow him to escape responsibility for his war crimes and corruption. He is perhaps for the first time in his life about to realize that there are forces larger than him. The unrelenting backlash to Bush will last well beyond his lifetime. He will die in dishonor as a corrupt and deadly criminal. His legacy is already dark and written in blood. Hell awaits him.
All American wars are political so no one in their right mind would volunteer to fight in one. Who wants to die so that the Republicans can stay in power? As more and more enlisted soldiers discover who they are really fighting for, they are getting out as soon as their enlistment is up. That’s why so many have to be forced to stay on active duty. We are supposed to be a country that is at war. So why is it that so few are actually going to war? To solve this our government is allowing Blackwater to provide fighting men. It won’t be long before most of our enlisted personnel will be civilians working for a private company, not our country.
Hoa binh
Looks like Army enlistment “contracts” aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
I’ll bet the recruiters don’t say much about “stop-loss” to prospective enlistees.
The soldiers have fulfilled their part of the bargain. So who is not “Supporting Our Troops” now?
IRAQ WAR: Who profits? Who pays?
Peace Now!
Hmm…
When they came to speak at our high school they didn’t say anything about being ’stuck’ indefinitely in the Army. Maybe they just forgot to mention that part. It’s ok though cause you can get out for just $2.00 worth of crack.
There is also something called the “Ready Reserve” of retired soldiers and/or officers. I understand quite a few of these folks have been conscripted.
They are now using Air Force and Navy personnel to replace Army troops on the ground in Iraq. Something else not mentioned by recruiters.
If the Mehdi Army and Sadr City erupt, those dropping troop number predictions might not work out.
Enlistments in both regulars and reserves are off. Does anyone feel a DRAFT? Brrrr!
In Sept. Sec Gates says … there will be fewer troops in Iraq and their tours will be back to 12 months.
We are stalled in blood. We make the troops remain there. To listen to the statements of our officials… their excuses and rationalizations … same as we did before… do now… and evidently will always do …
and expect a different result…
… sounds familiar.
insanity.
In the 60’s, we got ‘early out’ discharges if there was less than 5 months left on our enlistments after returning from overseas tours.
My how times have changed from that bad war to this one ……… for the worse.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free air…..send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me….”
And we aren’t giving them back to to you, we need ‘em a little while longer. When is a draft a draft…or not a draft?