Military discharge moratorium?

[Sapphocrat]

DUers, someone within the past week or two mentioned that our service personnel (I believe it was in reference to the National Guard, but I could be wrong) are seeing their previously-scheduled discharges delayed indefinitely, thanks to the "war" in Iraq.

I've searched DU endlessly for this reference, and Googled until my eyes are ready to melt, but can't find it.

Could anyone point me in the right direction? I'm looking for a solid link to at least one published (and reputable) piece that states, unequivocally, that our service people are not being "allowed" to discharge until further notice.

Thank for your help! I will appreciate any leads!

S.

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Think it may have been mari333 in reference to her son.

A Mothers Rage try here http://www.truthout.com/

[kaitykaity]

2. Yep. Here:

http://truthout.org/docs_03/102103C.shtml

I am a mother, 52 years old, and my son is in the National Guard. They won't let him go because the National Guard has put a 'stop-loss' on all Reservists and National Guard troops who are legally supposed to be discharged when their time is up. They might send him overseas on Friday.

[DocSavage]

6. Read the Contract

I know that it is hard, but in the enlistment contract, there are stipulations that enlistments can be involuntarily extended. Also, people believe that when you enlist, and you sign up for 4 years, after 4 years you are done. All members of the Armed Forces that enlist obligate themselves to 8 years of service. If you do 4 years of Active Duty, and then get out, you are in what is called the IRR for 4 years untill your 8 years are completed. During that last 4 years you can be recalled to AD.

In my case, I completed 22 years of Naval Service. I retired 2 years ago and now receive "Retainer pay" untill I have 30 years of total service. If during the next 6 years, things really go to hell, I could be recalled. When they start recalling 47 year old medics, things are real bad, but it could happen.

[Sapphocrat]

9. That's it!

Thank you, kaitykaity and LibertyorDeath -- that's where I saw it, and thanks to the phrase "stop loss," I was able to find a host of supporting articles out there.

DUers are the best!

[drfemoe]

3. This one is having some trouble NOT being discharged

http://www.msnbc.com/news/985190.asp

"Nov. 3 issue — Like thousands of other U.S. soldiers in Iraq, Pvt. Juan Escalante, a mechanic for the Third Infantry Division, did an unglamorous job in a dangerous place. From March until September, he recovered and repaired tanks and Humvees amid the constant threat of ambush and land mines in the streets of Baghdad. For his efforts, Escalante earned the respect of his comrades and a combat patch he wears on the sleeve of his uniform.

BUT ESCALANTE HAD a secret that sets him apart from his fellow veterans—he joined the Army using a fake green card he bought on the streets of Seattle for $50. Now the 19-year-old, just 4 when his parents illegally entered the United States from Mexico, faces discharge from the Army and deportation from the country for which he went to war. His family may also be deported." ...

The truthout story is @ http://truthout.org/docs_03/102103C.shtml

[DocSavage]

5. Levenworth

I think this young man needs some time on the Kansas Prairie. Not really sure how many federal laws he broke, but there is more than one.

[izzie]

4. It seems to me it was in a story about a man who was killed.

I did read about a man in Kennebunk, maine that was killed so that maybe where I read it.I do not like to read about their home life but fell I must read them being killed. They are our troops. Kennebunk is near so I would read that in local paper, which would have been Portland maine.

[clemencia2us]

7. air force

Not everyone in the air force is on stop-loss. It depends on your job. I don't know about the national guard. There is an easy way to get out. After 911, we were doing all kinds of extra duty and one of the guys was having his release date postponed. He already had a job lined up on the outside. He finally told the commander, he was gay and he was out in about 3 days with an administrative discharge.

[Mari333]

8. Yes, Stop Loss does not allow one to say they are gay

that was our last resort. Being gay gets you kicked out asap.
The BFEE is using the stoploss clause to keep the guards and reservists in, because they are spread so thin all over the globe and the people arent re enlisting after their time is up..
people are being fragged and clusterf*cked because no one at the top knows what they are doing..
www.mfso.org
www.bringthemhomenow.com
and people are just plain going AWOL, rather then return to that hellhole for Halliburton.
a little on stoploss
http://www.dcmilitary.com/airforce/beam/8_11/commentary/22151-1.html
I consider it an adhoc DRAFT.

[Sapphocrat]

11. And, Mari333...

Thank YOU for your post in the first place. I've pointed a lot of people to it.

Thanks for the links, too. Big kudos to MFSO -- I've admired them since I first heard of them.

Now, if only my cousin weren't so blinded by the right -- he WANTS to be in. (But I expect that will change, should he be deployed.)

[Sapphocrat]

10. So is an administrative discharge...

...like getting an "I" or "W" ("incomplete" or "withdrawal") on one's report card?

What happens to benefits after an administrative discharge? Is there an extra penalty for being gay?

And good luck to your friend, but in the words of Han Solo, I have a bad feeling about this (for his sake, I mean).

[clemencia2us]

12. benefits

He was on his first enlistment and would not be entitled to any benefits even if he stayed in and completed his term. You get some transitional counseling and moving expenses. He's doing fine. This happened in Feb/March of 2002. They can't do anything to you for saying you are gay, (except discharge) only if they catch you in a compromising position. I remember they court martialed a female for participating in a 3-way! They called it homosexual acts. She was not a lesbian, she was just into kinky stuff.