Da Hawg Frog Blog

The Department of Defense announced an end to the stop loss policy that has decimated the lives of so many soldiers and their families. The policy, put in effect by the Bush Administration, was the only means of waging the prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without implementing a draft. It was a policy that undoubtly led to the soaring suicide rates among the military ranks today.

The Department of Defense announced today a comprehensive plan to eliminate the current use of Stop Loss, while retaining the authority for future use under extraordinary circumstances. This is an important step along the path in adapting the Army into an expeditionary force.

The Army Reserve and Army National Guard will mobilize units without employing Stop Loss beginning in August and September 2009, respectively. The Regular (active duty) Army will deploy its first unit without Stop Loss by January 2010.

For soldiers Stop Lossed during fiscal 2009, the department will provide a monthly payment of $500. Until the department is able to eliminate Stop Loss altogether, this payment will serve as an interim measure to help mitigate its effects.

“Stop Loss disrupts the plans of those who have served their intended obligation. As such, it is employed only when necessary to ensure minimal staffing in deploying units, when needed to ensure safe and effective unit performance,” said Bill Carr, deputy under secretary of defense for military personnel policy. “It is more easily rationalized in the early stages of conflict when events are most dynamic; but tempo changes in this war have frustrated our efforts to end it altogether.”

The department intends to provide Stop Loss Special Pay to eligible service members until the point of separation or retirement, to include that time spent on active duty in recovery following redeployment. Stop Loss Special Pay will begin on the date of implementation, and will take effect for those impacted on or after Oct. 1, 2008. (Source:  US Department of Defense)

The plan to implement additional pay to those affected by stop loss is good, but it is unfair to those thousands who have been victims of this policy over the past years.  No other organization in this country has the right to break contracts and demand you work beyond your agreed upon service date. Only the US Army has utilized the stop loss program.

The stop-loss program was put into place to ensure that units remained intact during deployment. Tours of duty could be extended for those whose enlistment was due to end in the middle of their unit’s deployment.

Currently, the Army is the only service that uses the stop-loss program. As of January, 13,217 soldiers had tours extended under the stop-loss policy.

The Army used the stop-loss policy during Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and reinstated it after the September 11, 2001, attacks. (Source: CNN)

The policy of stop loss is and always has been unfair. It has fostered hard feelings among many vets who got sick and tired of repeated deployments to combat tours. Many came to believe the only way out was in a body bag. Without a doubt we will begin to see thousands leaving the service at the end of their duty. They can no longer trust the government to live up to their end of a bargain and will leave before this policy is implemented again. Then the myth of an all volunteer army will be exposed.

Before this country sends their troops into harm’s way they will have to weigh the consequences of their actions against the history of the past administration’s heavy handed enlistment extensions. When a soldier signs that blank check to his country, the one that states he is willing to pay any price, including his own life in the defense of his country, he expects his country to honor its end of the bargain also.