SecDef: Stop-loss To Remain Through 2009

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SecDef: Stop-loss To Remain Through 2009

Army says practice essential to keep experienced NCOs
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Dec 13, 2008 7:40:08 EST

Deploying troops should start to spend more time back home starting as early as this spring.

But the program known as “stop-loss,” which forces soldiers on deployment orders to stay on duty past their scheduled end-of-service dates, will continue through 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Dec. 2.

All the services have used stop-loss at some point since the 2001 terrorist attacks, but the Army is the only one still using it today.

Officials have long said time back home after deployments, known as “dwell time,” would increase when the Iraq war’s demand for troops declined.

With improved security conditions and improvements in Iraqi force capabilities, that’s now beginning to happen. But active soldiers and Marines are unlikely to see time back home double right away, Gates said.

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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/army_gatesside_121508w/%2e