The "Stop-Loss" Provisions

A little-known provision of Title 10 of the United States Code gives the President the authority to suspend military discharges, transfers, and promotions. Until the Gulf War, no President had used this power, but at the beginning of the mobilization for the War, the White House did. An Executive Order authorized the Department of Defense to freeze discharges, transfers, and promotions. The result was a series of directives, many of them contradictory or confusing, known collectively as "Stop-Loss."

The details of the "Stop-Loss" provisions are not important now that the War and the mobilization have ended. But these provisions had four major effects which you need to know about:

• Different commands interpreted the directives in very different ways. If you had applied for CO status in one unit, for example, you might have been told that the CO provisions had been abolished; while in another unit, military authorities might have accepted your claim but held it without processing. COs whose claims were returned often became discouraged and sought other discharges, only to be told that nobody could apply for those discharges either. Or they might have given up on their claims and simply gone AWOL or refused to deploy as ordered.
• Applications submitted after the issuance of the "Stop-Loss" orders were four times as likely to be denied as those submitted before the orders. This means that if it appears you might be caught up in a mobilization, you will need to decide and act quickly so that, if possible, you can have your application in before the mobilization actually begins.
• Reserve commanders, who were under pressure to deliver complete units as ordered, were often particularly reluctant to process CO claims--and other discharge claims as well.
• When some federal courts ordered the military to accept CO claims, military officials directed that CO applicants who had received deployment orders would have to report to their next duty stations before their applications could be accepted. For most COs, this meant reporting to the combat zone in Saudi Arabia, which most found unacceptable. The new directive was a change from previous procedures under which most COs were held at their original duty stations while their claims were processed.
• Throughout the mobilization and the war which followed, military discharge policies were confusing for officials and discharge applicants alike. Sometimes nobody knew how to handle a particular case, but more often officials cut through the confusion by refusing all discharge applications--and particularly CO applications. COs were viewed as cowards and shirkers.

"Stop-Loss" caused so much confusion and so many problems for the military that it is unlikely to be repeated without some changes. But the history of the Gulf War mobilization shows that the government has a great deal of power over discharges. You need to protect yourself at all times when you're seeking CO status, but in wartime you need to be especially careful and keep especially good records.

Go to next page