Editorial: Extended Duty Bonuses

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, July, 2008

Since the U.S. troops have been working overtime, the government should pay them overtime. Legislation introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) would compensate soldiers $1,500 per month for extended duty. It would be a well-deserved reward for enduring the Pentagon's unfair "stop-loss" policy.

In the past four years, the Defense Department has extended involuntarily enlistment periods for about 60,000 service members. At present, as the war in Iraq entered its sixth year this summer, more than 12,000 soldiers - including 4,000 National Guard members - were under stop-loss orders. Without a draft, the Pentagon has resorted to this policy to keep what its brass believes are adequate troop levels in Iraq and elsewhere. The result is that soldiers who signed up for a...