Point Paper – Stop Loss Compensation

 

“Stop-loss” is a Pentagon policy that allows the military to retain soldiers involuntarily beyond

the length of their contract. Over 120,000 active, reserve, and National Guard service

members have been stop-lossed since 2002.

 

The military is continuing to ask many of our soldiers to serve and sacrifice longer than their

commitment, and that sacrifice should be rewarded. Currently, there is no mandatory

monetary compensation for troops affected by stop-loss.

 

Senator Lautenberg has introduced the Stop Loss Compensation Act in the Senate (S 3060).

Representative Betty Sutton introduced the House companion (HR 6205) to his legislation.

 

The bill would require the Pentagon to pay $1,500 for each month to each service member who

is kept beyond the end of their enlistment period. The bill applies both to service members who

are forced to continue service after their enlistment is up, and after their eligibility for

retirement has been extended. The bill also includes a provision to compensate any service

member who has been stop-lossed since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

The burden that unexpected involuntary extensions of service have on our military families

cannot be measured. Nothing can replace having a loved one home or compensate for the risk

of physical or mental injury that deployment to a war zone entails. This legislation will provide

a measure of financial support for families affected by stop-loss.

 

Explanation of Stop-Loss Policy

 

• Stop-loss is a Pentagon policy that allows the military to retain soldiers involuntarily

beyond the length of their contract. Soldiers may be subject to stop-loss orders starting

90 days before their unit is scheduled to deploy, through the end of their deployment,

and up to another 90 days after returning to their home base.

 

• 120,300 Army service members have been stop lossed since 2002.

o 61,000 are from the Army active duty component, for an average of 7 months.

o 44,000 are from the Army National Guard for an average of 8 months.

o 15,000 are from the Army Reserves for an average of 9 months.

 

Congresswoman Sutton’s Stop Loss Bill

 

• The Stop Loss Compensation Act of 2008 would require the Pentagon to pay $1,500 to

each service member for each month he or she is kept beyond the end of their

enlistment period. Currently, there is no mandatory monetary compensation for troops

affected by stop-loss.

 

• The bill applies both to service members who are forced to continue service after their

enlistment is up, and after their eligibility for retirement has been extended.

 

• The bill also includes a provision to compensate any service member who has been

stop-lossed since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Army’s Acceleration of Stop-Loss

 

• On January 19, 2007, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent a memorandum to the

Secretaries of the military departments, Under Secretaries of Defense, and the

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff setting February 28, 2007, as a deadline for the

submission of plans to minimize stop-loss for regular and reserve component forces.

 

• Over the past year, the number of soldiers required to involuntarily remain in the Army

resulting from stop-loss orders rose 43 percent. Between May 2007 and March 2008,

the number of soldiers forced to remain in the Army increased to 12,235. Currently,

3,879 National Guard soldiers are affected by stop-loss, the largest group of Guardsmen

affected by the policy since November 2004.

 

• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates acknowledges that the number of troops subject to

stop-loss increased when the Army went from 12-month to 15-month tours and says

that stop-loss is an issue that troubles him: “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.”

 

Extended and Repeated Deployments Take Their Toll On Our Troops and Military

Families

 

• A report commissioned by the Pentagon stated that “the persistent use of stop-loss

underscores the fact that the war-fighting burden is being carried by a handful of

soldiers” and that policies such as stop-loss “risk breaking the force as recruitment and

retention problems mount.”

 

• 120 veterans commit suicide every week and 1,000 veterans attempt suicide while in VA

care every month. At least 115 soldiers killed themselves in 2007, up from 102 the

previous year.

 

• Nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately

300,000) has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major

depression. The number of U.S. troops diagnosed with PTSD jumped 50% in 2007 over

2006. The lengthening of deployments from 12 to 15 months and rise in the number of

troops serving repeated tours sharply increases the likelihood troops will experience

symptoms of PTSD.

 

• 19 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been diagnosed with possible

traumatic brain injury (TBI).

 

Defense Appropriations. Representative John Murtha (D-PA), Chairman of the House Defense

Appropriations subcommittee, included the provisions of HR 6205 in the 2009 Defense

Appropriations Act (yet to be voted on), but limited the compensation to $500 per month.