How many stop-losses should the military endure before a draft?

Question

Currently, to maintain troop strength in Iraq, our military has a
"stop loss" program in place where military having served can
be forced to continue to serve beyond their original term.

How long should we continue this policy?

Answer 1

The "stop loss" program IS a draft. People are being forced to remain in active duty past their enlistment contracts. And we should stop it RIGHT NOW. The fact that not enough young people are enlisting demonstrates the lack of credibility in the war. That should send a very clear message. Bush lost the war. End stop loss NOW.

Answer 2

The policy should be used only long enough for the first batch of draftees to hit the ground in country. Stop-losses have their uses but eventually they will ruin the military. Once soldiers decide it is not in their best interest to serve anymore there is no difference between him and a draftee anymore. I've seen senior NCO's who were stop-lossed before retirement bail out of meetings, participate in work slow downs, and generally screw over everyone around them, in a war-zone!! Is this a good idea? No, but when you force somebody to do something against their will you get what you ask for. Once this war ends and the massive reenlistment bonuses stop coming and stop losses are let up we are going to see how big of a problem this war has caused in the ranks.

People who have never served are under the impression every soldier is sat down and explained all the in's and out's of his contract and that he is fully aware of every contingency. Not factual at all!!! The stop-loss was explained to me as an emergency loophole in case WW3 ever broke out. Turns out that the Army can stop loss you if you happen to be in a shortage MOS, even in a time of peace!!! That is not explained in your contract at all. As a matter of fact, stop losses are not even addressed in contracts and the politicians in D.C have the right to change the rules whenever they feel like it. Everyone needs to quit blaming soldiers for mistakes politicians make. You would be suprised to find out how many soldiers are no longer serving voluntarily. They never get interviewed on CNN or FOX news by the way.

Answer 3

It's a volunteer military. The stop-loss issue is made known to those who sign up, whether they actually expect it to happen to them, or not, when they volunteer. There are still people volunteering into the military every day, even though the current situation in Iraq has made the stop-loss orders issue well-known to the public.

In for a penny, in for a pound--our troops shouldn't be in Iraq at all. But, since they are there, they need to stay in as long as it takes to get it stabilized.

Answer 4

You totally misunderstand what 'stop-loss' is and what it is for.

One of the lessons learned (and paid for in blood) in Vietnam was that you have fewer people killed if they train together, deploy together, fight together and return home together.

Stop loss is just one of the tools we use to keep soldiers alive.

BTW - when I first enlisted I was required to read and initial the part of the contract that discussed involuntary extensions before I could sing the contract. People who have never signed an enlistment contract should not be trying to tell those of us who did what we did or did not know about.

Answer 5

their should have been a draft in effect already and i don't understand why there hasn't been one.