When I joined up, no one said shit about a stop loss rule (it was pre-9/11). Now I've got 8 months left and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get pulled for another tour, I just want to concentrate on school. As far as I'm concerned, I signed up for 8 yrs, thats it. I didn't sign up for 8 yrs. and then maybe some more depending on how desperate the military is. I just wanna get it done and over with.

Of course most of the soldiers don't want to serve longer. I thought that was common sense.

more power to ya mate....ride the shit and count the time as knowledge most don't get....hope you stay stateside till it's out...we need you here

You can't get extended if you signed for eight years. The way the contract works is if you sign for active duty that is less than eight years, The difference is made up in IRR time (Individual Ready Reserve). After eight years, unless you are an officer who leaves the military without resigning your commission, then you are done. I still have till 2011 on my contract, but I'm not active.

While I have no problem with them forming their own opinions and being vocal, I agree with the WWII vet. We all took an oath, and we signed a contract that plainly states that you have an IRR obligation. This way the military avoids having their numbers drop off suddenly before a deployment. There is a reason they do it... it's not just arbitrary.

Whoa, I wasn't expecting the soldier to be holding his protest in uniform. That is way, way out of line. As Lurch mentioned, you sign a contract when you enlist that makes it clear that you're at the beck and call of the US government for eight years. Stop loss sucks and is completely unfair, especially considering that most Americans are completely unwilling to serve a day, let alone years. The fact of the matter is however, that having your time on active duty extended is a possibility that is made known from the moment you enlist, and as such it should be considered before signing the contract not after the extension has occurred.

Frankly, I think it's pretty disgusting how unwilling most Americans are to serve during a time of war. Whether you are for or against the war, Americans are suffering and sacrificing at this very moment. That the nation isn't willing to help shoulder that burden and instead prefers not to think about it, is pretty low in my opinion. Even if you think the ruck march is a complete and utter waste of time and energy, you shoulder the ruck sack of the guy who is struggling so that you can all make it through. When the Ancient Greeks debated in their assemblies whether or not to go to war, the people arguing for and voting for war knew full well that either they themselves or their sons would be fighting in it. Perhaps if more Americans didn't choose to ignore military service, we wouldn't have chosen this war to begin with.

I was with my son in the recruiter's office. When asked about the inactive reserves we were told, "only in the case of a national emergency will you be called up -- and when has this happened in recent history?" And this was in 2003, after 9/11. I don't believe 17-18 year-olds signing up for the military think they are signing away 8 years active duty with numerous tours to Iraq or Afghanistan. I maintain, stop the backdoor draft.

Mxhanna, technically that is true, though they're leaving details out on purpose I'm sure. IRR soldiers are rarely called back after they have processed out of the military. However, being extended to finish a tour if your ETS date falls somewhere inside its deployment window is very common. My recruiter was actually very honest with me when I enlisted. He told me about extensions, deployments, and even that the unit I chose was going to most likely deploy as soon as I arrived. Also, it's always good practice to actually read something they hand you in MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) before signing it. You're not officially enlisted until you sign the contract, raise your right hand, and pledge to defend this country. I took my time, read through the contract, and was given a book of all Army MOS's to make sure I was choosing the job I wanted. The whole process took nearly 48 hours, but I never felt cheated or lied to. Enlisting is a serious commitment. Calling the IRR a backdoor draft is a bit much in my opinion. Once you sign the contract, it's on you to know exactly what you've commited yourself to.

*waronterror

Adding video to channels (Waronterror) - requested by MarineGunrock.

The stoploss has nothing to do with IRR time its totally different. The stoploss is based on a time of war and the soldiers ETS date. If you are in country and you are due to ETS you will probably be involuntarily extended to finish the tour. If your unit is about to deploy they will set a specific time before the doployment for a stoploss. If your ETS is after that set date and the unit hasn't filled the manning needed for the mobilization then stoploss could prevent you from ETS and you would have to deploy. To some that sounds like BS but it is in the contract that every soldier signs, and should review when they enlist. I am looking at the contract right now and i will tell you exactly where it is. The form is DD FORM 4/1. It is in section C part 10 in many of the subparagraphs (a,b,c etc.). This movie should be called deserter instead of stoploss. When people sign any contract they need to READ THE CONTRACT and find out everything included. This is not even fine print. It reads "In a time of war, my enlistmenty may be extended without my consent for the duration of the war and for six months after its end". I dont know of a more straight forward way of saying it than that. Suck it up, serve you country, and drive on, because you did raise your right hand and swore to do just that.

I agree with briktop. It's in the very contract everyone of us signed. As for recruiters leaving out some details. Of course they are. If you were selling a house or a car or anything else are you going to tell them about all of the bad things about it. NO! You are going to make it look great. That doesn't mean they are lying. I'm a recruiter. I truly love being a soldier and I talk the military, especially the National Guard, up to any potential soldier. I want them to know about all the great benefits it offers. But I will not lie to them. If they ask any questions about stoploss or deployments or anything else "contriversial", I will do my best to fully explain everything to them. Everyone should be proud to serve the country, and extremely honored that their country has stoplossed them because we want them fighting the fight for us. I've been overseas twice. Volunteered for the second deployment, and as I was typing this comment, volunteered for my third. Stoploss keeps us from implementing the draft and sending young, untrained soldiers. I'll tell you the samething I tell everyone else, I would rather be sent overseas 100 times before I would want any of my family to have to go. But I still encourage both of my brothers to serve their country when their time comes. You should have never joined the military if you are too scared to fight for what you and your family have and what you believe in. Everyone wants all of the glory and benefits of being an American but very few want to fight and protect what we have so we can have the samethings for our children and their children. For all of you who run from recruiters and protest soldiers, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I'm not saying you should agree with the war. That's your opinion, and that's why we fight for you rights. But you should still support all troops whether you agree with the war or not. A lot of us don't agree with the war, but we answer the call of our nation, man up, and do what we have to do so that you don't have to.

SGT David Booth
Proud soldier of the 45th Infantry Brigade and the Oklahoma Army National Guard.