Army plans to make soldiers stay on

Even if volunteer commitments end, some soldiers will have to remain.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON -- Struggling to stretch its limited ranks, the U.S. Army said Wednesday that thousands of soldiers who were scheduled to leave the military will be ordered to stay if their units are being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The move imposes what the Army calls "stop-loss orders" on all units being deployed on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such orders prevent active-duty soldiers and reservists from retiring or leaving their units from 90 days before they deploy until 90 days after they return -- even if their volunteer commitments to the military end before then.
Numbers unknown so far
Army officials could not precisely say how many soldiers are affected, since the orders will be in place for an indefinite period of time and will apply to units that have not yet been mobilized.
But in the absence of a stop-loss program, an average division of 20,000 would have to replace 25 percent of its troops before or during a deployment to remain at full strength.
Wednesday's announcement marked the broadest effort yet by the Pentagon to help meet U.S. commitments abroad by preventing soldiers from leaving the military.
It comes on the heels of extended tours of duty for troops already in Iraq as well as orders that thousands of soldiers who already fought in the war return to battle, and is likely to inflame tensions in the ranks and among military families.
"People ought to be aware that we are extracting more service involuntarily out of the people who have already served," said Steve Strobridge, director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, which has 375,000 members, mostly retired. "It's a pretty good indication that someone didn't do their planning that well."
No choice
But though Army officials acknowledged that the program is "a finger in the dike," as one senior officer said Wednesday, they said they have no choice but to gamble that they can force soldiers to stay in service now without triggering a backlash that would lead to a mass exodus later.
"I don't think there's a question that here in the near term that the United States Army, active and reserved, is stretched," said Lt. Gen. Franklin Hagenbeck, the Army's personnel chief.
But Hagenbeck, speaking at a breakfast meeting where he unveiled the plans, rejected suggestions that the orders betray the trust of soldiers in the volunteer military.
"I don't regard that as a breach of trust," Hagenbeck said. "I'd regard that as being a soldier in the United States Army, and this is what we do."
Hagenbeck said the orders were open-ended, and could be in place for several years while the Army reorganizes itself into smaller, more-interchangeable units.
They will apply to members of units being deployed outside the United States. Members of units that are deployed within the United States as part of the Iraq or Afghanistan operations may still leave the military, as may members of units that have not been mobilized.