Here are a few excerpts from a New York Times article about the announcement:
My son was affected and forced to stay in the service an extra six months even though his last several months was spent stateside cleaning equipment. I am glad that the president is ending this practice.According to Pentagon statistics, 13,200 people are now under stop-loss orders: 4,458 in the Army National Guard, 1,452 in the Army Reserve and the rest from the active component. The Army said Wednesday that it would provide additional pay of $500 a month to those currently affected by the policy, retroactive to last October.
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“The stop-loss policy is one that has been expanded and abused for too long,” said Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, “and it is a significant and positive sign that the president plans to largely end it.”
“If we had to point to one policy that has placed the most strain on our troops and their families, and adversely affected the morale and readiness of our forces, it would be stop-loss,” Mr. Soltz added.
I'm glad it is coming to an end as well. I do believe that if recruiting was not doing as well due to the decrease in violence and poor economy, the practice would continue. I wonder if as the troops come home, if we will have another baby boom. And think of all those soldiers waiting to buy cars and homes and start life over again. I just hope we do it in a way that won't cause another generation to make the same sacrifice.
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