Stop-loss pay deadline extended to March 18

Stop-loss pay deadline extended to March 18
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Mar 8, 2011 17:01:48 EST
WASHINGTON — They’ve sent out letters and flyers and have tweeted and pleaded, but Pentagon officials are still struggling to give away a huge cache of money to troops and veterans.

The Defense Department said Tuesday that as of last week it had spent only $300 million of $534 million approved by Congress as special pay for service members forced after Sept. 11, 2001, to serve beyond their enlistment terms — a controversial practice called stop-loss.

The money was approved in 2009 and troops were supposed to claim it by October. But Congress has just extended the deadline for a fourth time — to March 18.

Extensive efforts by the Pentagon, White House, Congress and the Veterans Affairs Department to get people to file claims for the money have included letters to the last known mailing addresses of all 145,000 believed eligible and a public service announcement taped by President Barack Obama and broadcast last year.

Officials also have posted messages to Facebook pages of the Pentagon and individual services, spread the word through 130 veteran and military service organizations, typed reminders on the bottom of military and retiree pay stubs, and placed television, radio, newspapers and blog stories and announcements in areas of the country with sizable troop populations, said Eileen Lainez, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

The payment is $500 for each month or partial month a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine was forced to stay on active duty and is on top of the regular pay received at the time. Eligible to receive it are troops, veterans and their beneficiaries.
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Stop-loss pay deadline extended to March 18

120,000 stop loss payments wait for you to claim them!

If you were kept longer under stop-loss this money is your's! You have to claim it before time runs out.

100K eligible troops could miss stop-loss pay

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Aug 4, 2010 14:41:50 EDT

A key lawmaker behind the creation of a monthly $500 stop-loss allowance says the Defense Department has not done enough to try to locate separated service members who are now on the brink of losing the right to apply for the money.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., chief Senate sponsor of legislation that created retroactive stop-loss allowances, said only about 25,000 of the more than 145,000 eligible service members and veterans have applied for and received payments.

There is an Oct. 21 deadline to apply for payments, and Lautenberg expects an all-out push from the military using “every available outlet” to warn people they could be losing the money.
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100K eligible troops could miss stop loss pay

Ordered stop-loss payouts still undelivered

It's not bad enough they get stop-loss ordered to stay in now they are not even getting what they were promised as far as paying them! First they are promised they will serve a certain amount of time, but we go back on that promise. Then we promise to pay them extra for what they are put through. Then we go back on that promise too? We also promise to take care of them if they get wounded and we all know how that turns out too many times for them. Can't we get anything right when it comes to the men and women serving?

Ordered stop-loss payouts still undelivered
Two months after Congress ordered special pay of up to $500 a month for anyone involuntarily kept on active duty under stop-loss orders, nobody has received a dime.

But the wait may be coming to an end. Senior Army officials are close to issuing a recommendation on whether to pay the full $500 allowance authorized by Congress and when payments might begin, according to Senate aides monitoring the program.

The decision, one of the last military pay actions by the Bush administration, must be cleared by the House and Senate Appropriations committees before payments begin.

Army spokesman Maj. Nathan Banks could not say when an announcement would be made, but he noted that top Army officials are reviewing a payment plan for submittal to Congress.

“Congress authorized the payment, but the amount could be anywhere from zero to $500,” Banks said.

Senate aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Banks appears cautious about not overpromising.

“I would be very surprised if the amount was less than $500, especially because we provided full funding for that amount,” one aide said. “The Army would have to make a very strong case why it needs to pay less.”

Anyone who spends even one day of a month in fiscal 2009 under stop-loss orders would be eligible for what the law calls “stop-loss special pay.”
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