By Mike Wereschagin
TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Defense Department is accepting claims for special pay
from members of the military who were kept on active duty longer than their
enlistment period.
The payments amount to $500 for each month military members
were kept on duty under the controversial policy known as stop loss. The
payments are retroactive to Sept. 11, 2001, so anyone who received their stop
loss orders in the past eight years can file a claim for the special pay.
Stop loss has kept 2,744 Pennsylvania Army National Guard
soldiers on duty longer than they planned, said Matthew Mazonkey, spokesman for
Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, who opposes the practice. Overall, 185,000
people have been affected, according to Defense Department estimates.
About 10,000 Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve
soldiers serve today under stop-loss orders, Mazonkey said.
"We're asking the same people to go back four or five
times," Mazonkey said. "It's very disruptive for their future plans
and their families. We've been trying to end it for several years."
Last year's defense spending bill set aside $72 million for
the extra pay, but it applied only to those on active duty. A supplemental
defense spending bill passed this year added $534.4 million for the retroactive
payments.
That might not be enough. If every eligible person claims
the benefit, it would cost $640 million, said Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Les
Melnyk.
"The services ... will be required to pay for any extra
cost," Melnyk said.
The average stop-loss deployment lasted seven months.
"That's a $3,500 check there for most people," Mazonkey
said.
Only the Army still employs the practice, and officials plan
to begin phasing it out next year, Melnyk said. It could be used after that on
a more limited basis to retain people with specials skills — say, special
forces soldiers or linguists, Melnyk said.
Mike Wereschagin can be reached at
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or 412-320-7900.
