If Our Military & Guard Are Being Prohibited From Leaving Service...

[arwalden]

... when their time is completed, are they being conscripted? If they are being forced 'against their will' to continue serving beyond that for which they originally promised... it sounds like it's awfully close to the draft without actually being the draft.

Am I understanding it correctly? Has this type of thing ever been done before?

If it hasn't been done before, is/was there a provision for it ALREADY? Or is this one of Bush's* executive orders that skirts current law?

-- Allen

[DarkPhenyx]

1. No, they are not now conscripted.

The extentions are actually "voluntary" in a manner as they fall under the contractual obligations you voluntarily signed up for when you entered service.

It has been done before. It was done under Clinton in fact. It was also done at the begining ot the Gulf War I believe. The ability to instigate a "Stop Loss Program" has been in existance for a long time. It is also a necessary ability for a volunteer military if they are going to be able to maintian a warfighting capability.

[arwalden]

2. Thanks For The Info...

The "Stop Loss" descriptions I had been hearing just sounded suspicious to me... as though it were something that was BEYOND the scope of what the volunteers were contractually obligated to.

Even if they didn't read (or fully understand) the hidden obligations described in the fine print... I'm glad to know that it's not something that Bush* just invented on-the-fly to suit his purposes.

-- Allen

[DarkPhenyx]

3. No problem.

Just doing my part to help keep our side better informed. :)

[demsrule4life]

4. Adding to what DarkPhenyx said

When you enlist in the military you sign two documents. One is for the active duty time you will do, 3-4-6 years. The other document is for your total time which is 8 years. If you sign up for four years active duty when you are finished you have four more years inactive reserve. Let's say someone is ending their four year contract and a war starts, the govt can stop loss that person for four years since the total military commitment is eight years.

edited to add

For retirement. If you retire from the military you owe 30 years. So if someone retires after twenty years active, they can be called up for ten more years.