US Army forces 50,000 into extended duty

The US Army has forced about 50,000 soldiers to continue serving after their voluntary stints ended under a policy called "stop-loss." The policy applies to soldiers in units due to deploy for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Army says stop-loss is vital to maintain units that are cohesive and ready to fight. But some experts said it shows how badly the Army is stretched. "As the war in Iraq drags on, the Army is accumulating a collection of problems that cumulatively could call into question the viability of an all-volunteer force," said defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute think tank. "When a service has to repeatedly resort to compelling the retention of people who want to leave, you're edging away from the whole notion of volunteerism." When soldiers enlist, they sign a contract to serve for a certain number of years, and know precisely when their service obligation ends so they can return to civilian life. But stop-loss allows the Army, mindful of having fully manned units, to keep soldiers on the verge of leaving the military. Under the policy, soldiers who normally would leave when their commitments expire must remain in the Army, starting 90 days before their unit is scheduled to depart, through the end of their deployment and up to another 90 days after returning to their home base. With year-long tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, some soldiers can be forced to stay in the Army an extra 18 months. Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesperson, said that "there is no plan to discontinue stop-loss." Hilferty said there are about 12,500 soldiers in the regular Army, as well as the part-time National Guard and Reserve, currently serving involuntarily under the policy, and that about 50,000 have had their service extended since the program began in 2002. An initial limited use of stop-loss was expanded in subsequent years to affect many more. Congressional critics have assailed stop-loss, and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry called it "a back-door draft."