Afghanistan (2006-01)

Military families oppose stop-loss
Pentagon policy comes under fire
By George Moore Record-Journal staff

After two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, Army Sgt. 1st Class Bill Tomlin looked forward to his discharge from the Army before Christmas. That expectation was shattered about a month ago when military officials informed the 29-year-old that he would have to serve another year in Afghanistan.
   While Tomlin dutifully accepts the Army’s decision, his father was outraged over the extension of his son’s service and has been notifying members of Congress and other officials about his concerns. “He’s done a lot and I don’t think it’s fair the way he’s been treated,” said his father, William C. Tomlin Jr., of Barkhamsted. “Up until a few weeks ago we thought he was coming home.”
   Bill Tomlin serves in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment under the 82nd Airborne’s Fourth Brigade Combat Team. After serving more than eight years, he expected to get out of the military some time in November.
   He had been travelling from Fort Bragg, N.C., to Connecticut every month for training to become a state police officer. He and his wife planned to move back to Connecticut after his discharge, but those plans are now on hold.
The extension of Tomlin’s service was part of the Army’s “stop-loss” policy, said Master Sgt. Chris Fletcher, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg. Stop- loss is a policy in which soldiers — usually those with special skills — are forced to serve beyond their contracted obligations. The extra service typically

starts 90 days before the deployment of their unit and up to 90 days after their return to the United States.    While stop-loss put a halt on his personal goals, Tomlin, in charge of the 32 soldiers in his platoon, said he accepts the responsibility.
   “I think what the military is looking for is people to be team players,” he said. “By me staying in for this deployment, it affects more people in a positive aspect than it affects people in a negative aspect. … The policy is really to save lives more than anything else.”
   He’s been with the same group of soldiers for about a year now, he said, making his leadership position an important part of the platoon as it gears up for deployment.
   Tomlin’s entire unit was placed under stop-loss and is scheduled to head back to Afghanistan in January or February, Fletcher said. The unit would serve overseas for a year, followed by three months of service in the United States. The stop-loss policy is put in place to take advantage of the skills and cohesion developed within an experienced unit, Fletcher said.
“They’re seasoned, experienced soldiers and their experience could be used further,” he said. “It’s effective for every unit that deploys and, unfortunately, the soldiers that are affected are soldiers that did think they were getting out of the Army at a certain time.”
   Lambasted by some as a “backdoor draft,” the policy has been the source of frustration for some servicemen and women. Wallingford resident Jesse Zettergren said he was compelled to serve in the Army under stop-loss for nearly four years after

the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He had completed his obligatory eight years of service prior to that.
   He missed the birth of his daughter during his service under stop-loss. The policy, he said, is “one of those little, tiny, hidden clauses in your contract that you don’t read.”
   While the military was essentially a positive force in his life, Zettergren said, the stop-loss policy to him was “just another way to institute the draft.” But this “draft,” he said, unfairly selects people who have already volunteered their service. For this reason, he said, he supports a full draft.
   “It’s not fair,” he said. “How many times can you ask these guys to go back to Iraq? They already served in Iraq. It’s time for someone else to step up to the plate.”
   Tomlin spent a total of eight months in Iraq for his last two tours. He spent eight months in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, for his first tour. Though his discharge from service was officially set for February of next year, the army sergeant expected to leave between November and December because he had accumulated leave time.
   The stop-loss decision put off his plans to become a state police officer and move to Connecticut with his wife, he said, but he is ready to go back to Afghanistan with his platoon.
   “It definitely affected my long-term plans, especially since I was so far along in the state police application process,” he said, “but I think at some point we also look at the bigger picture and look at the greater good and realize it is there.”

[Record-Journal, Meriden, CT, .08 Oct 2006, Sun, Pages A1 & A4