Stop Loss Orders

5 January 2004


Pentagon Prevents Soldiers from Retiring to Keep Sufficient Forces in Field

If every right-wing, flag-waving nut who claimed to support the troops actually did, there would have been a riot last week when the Washington Post reported that the US Army is preventing soldiers from retiring when their tour of duty is up. The troops are being abused, misused and generally screwed, yet the silence is deafening. It is premature to bring all the troops home, but surely Uncle Sam can find replacements for those who have been promised an end to their service.

The US has an all-volunteer military, and that is the way it should be. Any country that must compel its citizens to fight for it is doomed. In signing up, a volunteer enters into a contract with the United States people through their government. The contract specifies the duration of the contract, and the people are not living up to that part of the contract.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, no one could reasonably complain about the "stop-loss" orders that prevented military police and others from returning to civilian life. Now, troops in the US are being told they can't leave as per the contract, and that they should get ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.

As a comparison to previous conflicts, Vietnam combat duty was guaranteed to be one year and then out of 'Nam. At one stage, there were 500,000 Americans in uniform there. There are around 160,000 in Iraq, but one year and home isn't in the cards. During World War II, military personnel had a more indefinite contract -- until the end of fighting plus six months. Still, it gave a sense of when it might end. Warriors in the present mess have no idea when they will go home -- some have an expiration of service date on their paychecks of 2030, twenty six years from now.

The Air Force issued a statement last spring with its stop-loss order which read: "Both the secretary [James G. Roche] and the chief of staff [Gen. John P. Jumper] are acutely aware that the Air Force is an all-volunteer force and that this action, while essential to meeting the service's worldwide obligations, is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of voluntary service." It also drives morale down, and it makes for lousy re-enlistment figures. Not much of a way to treat the people at the tip of the spear.

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