by Associated Press
Published: Wed, March 18, 2009 - 10:36 am CST
Last Updated: Wed, March 18, 2009 - 4:34 pm CST
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army will soon start phasing out itsunpopular "stop-loss" method of keeping troops beyond their
enlistment dates.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the practice was simply
"not the right thing to do." He says the goal is to cut the
number of "stop-lost" troops in half by June 2010 -- and
eliminate its use "across the entire Army by March 2011.
Yet, he says it's possible the Army may never be able to end the
practice completely.
Under the policy, some 13,000 soldiers whose tours are up have
been forced to continue serving. Gates says he hopes any potential
future use of "stop loss" would only be in the "scores, not
thousands."
The military is also agreeing to $500-per-month payments to
troops forced to stay beyond their terms. The payments will be
retroactive to last Oct. 1.
Other service branches have virtually phased out "stop loss,"
but the Army said it needed to use it because of the severe strain
of fighting the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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