Extended Iraq Duty Expected for More Troops

Desperate to stretch its limited ranks, the Army is expected next week to prohibit still more soldiers now in Iraq and soon to be deployed there from leaving military service.

Army officials declined to say which or how many soldiers would be affected when it expands its “stop-loss” program, which prevents soldiers in certain heavily used specialties from leaving the military or being reassigned to another unit.

But the last such edict, issued Nov. 13, covered the more than 110,000 active-duty soldiers whose units were scheduled to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan between now and May.

Because the order takes effect 90 days before the troops’ 12-month deployments and lasts for 90 days after a return home, those troops couldn’t retire or leave the Army before spring 2005, even if their enlistments expired before then.

The announcement of a further expansion of the program, which Army officials confirmed was imminent, comes amid evidence that the Army is straining to meet its growing commitments around the world.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Army has repeatedly blocked certain soldiers from retiring or leaving. Most of the stop-loss orders came directly after the terrorist attacks, and then again as the Pentagon prepared for war in Iraq early in 2003.

The orders generally have applied to troops whose skills have been in high demand in Iraq -- such as military police or civil affairs specialists -- and some of those orders subsequently have been lifted. But the Nov. 13 order was far broader.

The Pentagon views these steps as a tool to halt the hemorrhage of personnel at a time when more than half its combat troops are deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Since it began instituting the stop-loss orders two years ago, the Army has blocked the retirements and departures of more than 40,000 soldiers, about 16,000 of them National Guard and reserve members. Hundreds more in the Air Force, Navy and Marines were briefly blocked from retiring or departing the military last year.

Already, by preventing soldiers from leaving the Army at retirement or the expiration of their contracts, military leaders have breached the Army’s manpower limit of 480,000 troops set by Congress.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last month , Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, said the number of active-duty soldiers had reached 500,000. Several lawmakers questioned the legality of exceeding the limit by so much.

Lt. Gen. Dennis Cavin, commander of Army Accessions Command, told CNN on Friday that the stop-loss program was designed “to provide continuity and consistency” for deployed units and to enhance their ability “to execute their mission to the highest degree of their effectiveness.”

He said the program did not mean the Army had a shortage of qualified troops to support the war on terrorism. He said the Army remained “very successful” in its recruiting efforts and continued to bring in top-quality men and women.

But senior Army officials have been complaining for more than six months that the Army needs to grow to handle its burgeoning commitments in an age of global terrorism.

Army officials have said that the restrictions on leaving the military are critical not only because they boost the number of soldiers who can be sent to war zones, but because they increase the cohesion of Army units by limiting turnover in personnel.

But the practice is deeply controversial within the military. Some soldiers have complained it amounts to a reinstitution of the draft.

Stop-loss authority was first given to the military by Congress after the Vietnam War, when the Pentagon was struggling to refill its combat ranks.

It was not used until 1990, during the buildup to the Gulf War.