Seaman William Selby, Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs
2009-11-02

WASHINGTON, D.C. - 11.02.2009

As the Defense Department begins to compensate military members forced to serve beyond the expiration of their contracts, the number of those still serving under "Stop Loss" has been greatly reduced, a Pentagon official said.

The Army, the only service still using the program, still has 9,600 soldiers serving involuntarily beyond their resignation or retirement date, Sam Retherford, the Defense Department's director of officer and enlisted personnel management, said during an Oct. 29 "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.

That compares to 16,000 service members on Stop Loss in 2005, he said.

Those currently on Stop Loss will be reduced quickly, however, as the Army plans to cut the number of those deployed under the program in half by January and to end Stop Loss deployments entirely by June, he said.

"They [will] not deploy using the Stop Loss authority," Retherford said, adding that "there should be no service members on active duty under Stop Loss by March 2011."

The new compensation policy allows service members who were "Stop Lossed" to collect $500 for every month or partial month they served after their service contract ended, Retherford said.

All of the services applied for Stop Loss authority. The Navy applied an average of 15 months of Stop Loss to 250 service members; the Air Force applied an average of seven months of Stop Loss to 39,000 service members; the Marine Corps applied an average of three months of Stop Loss to 9,500 Marines; and the Army applied an average of seven months of Stop Loss to 137,000 soldiers, Retherford said.

Service members with an honorable discharge are eligible to receive compensation if they were involuntarily extended between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009. Dependents of deceased service members who were Stop Lossed also can apply for compensation. In all cases, applicants must provide the proper documentation. "

The claims process requires that the member submit the documentation to show that they were Stop Lossed," Retherford said. "If the member doesn't have the documentation, then the service will, based on the claim, attempt to find the documentation to support the claim, but it has to be shown and proved."

Here's where to get information from each service: