Stop loss undermines the voluntary nature of the military

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) announce a bill, the Stop-Loss Compensation Act in the Senate (S. 3060) and the House (H.R. 6205), which requires the Pentagon to pay troops affected by stop-loss an additional $1,500 for each month their service is extended.

Stop-loss is a policy that involuntarily extends military service beyond soldiers enlistment contracts. 58,300 soldiers have been affected by stop loss since 2002, according to the Army. The bill will apply to service members who are forced to continue service after their enlistment is up and after their eligibility for retirement has been extended. There is a provision included that would be retroactive to October 2001 to compensate soldiers who had been stop-lossed since the start of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Lautenberg calls for the Senate to recognize and hold a hearing for the legislation because, he said “we want our men compensated for the continued service.” The bill will additionally ease the burden and pain put on families of those service men stop-lossed. Sutton said that stop loss put an “unjust burden on soldiers and their families” and undermines the voluntary nature of the military.