Our View: End of involuntary service extensions long overdue

In the wake of the unpopular Vietnam war, the United States eliminated the draft. As the Iraq War spiraled out of control, political leaders declined to renew the draft, so the Pentagon instituted another version of involuntary servitude by issuing “stop-loss” orders. By March 2011, this should be history, too.

Good riddance.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, announced this week that stop-loss orders are being phased out. About 13,000 troops have been forced to remain in the Army after their service obligations had been met. That’s more than double the number since 2006.

“I felt, particularly in these numbers, that it was breaking faith,” Gates said. “When somebody’s end date of service comes, to hold them against their will … is just not the right thing to do.”

The Pentagon says it hopes the move will help lower suicide and divorce rates. It will certainly be a boost to morale.

Gates’ decision caps a process in which he queried each branch of the service on the wisdom of keeping stop-loss orders. Even before imposing those, the military had extended tours in Iraq from 12 to 15 months, while stubbornly clinging to a policy that discouraged gays and lesbians from staying or signing up.

Of course, the war wasn’t supposed to be a messy, drawn-out affair. The stop-loss orders and the use of an inordinately high number of Reservists and National Guard members is a reflection of bad planning. We had enough troops to successfully invade but not enough to keep the peace. It didn’t help that we launched this Iraq war – as opposed to the 1991 invasion – before rounding up a coalition sufficient to share the duties and costs.

The men and women in the military have borne the brunt of these policy mistakes. They deserve not only a break from stop- loss orders, but rewards for having to endure them. To that end, the Pentagon will begin paying stop-loss troops an extra $500 a month, retroactive to October. This news will be a relief to families who watched Congress approve the payments five months ago but have yet to see any money.

This policy change won’t preclude the military from reimposing stop-loss orders in case of emergencies, but it does signify that the military is being more thoughtful about the effects of war on the troops. For instance, the Army is working on an incentive plan that allows troops to voluntarily extend their service in exchange for more money.

That’s preferable to trapping them once they’ve signed up.

Perhaps this policy change will also force leaders to more carefully analyze the use of troops before embarking on missions that risk overextending them.