"Third Infantry Division soldiers who planned to move, retire or leave the Army this year may now be heading to Iraq instead.
Invoking the Army's unpopular "stop-loss" authority, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch ordered departing soldiers to stay put to preserve the division's troop strength as it heads into an unprecedented third combat tour in Iraq.
"Stop-loss authority allows the armed forces to extend people on active-duty by delaying planned separations, retirements and demobilizations. Stop-move authority, which Lynch also invoked, prevents soldiers from transferring to new Army posts.
"'We will receive new personnel but there will not be further departures without my approval," Lynch said today in a letter in Frontline, Fort Stewart's newspaper. "We will consider the recommendations for exceptions from our brigade and battalion leaders.
"'We are at war and this is absolutely necessary."
"The move may signal a Pentagon scramble to identify enough soldiers to support the mission in Iraq and meet President Bush's order for a troop surge. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reportedly cracking down on the use of stop-loss.
"On Saturday, the Army Times reported that Gates told senior defense officials and each of the service secretaries that it's time to look for other ways to manage manpower.
"'Use of stop-loss will be minimized for both active and Reserve component forces," Gates wrote in a Jan. 19 memo that also outlined a number of other personnel initiatives.
"He directed military leaders to get back with him by Feb. 28 with plans to reduce the use of stop-loss.
"Critics, such as ex-POW and Republican Sen. John McCain, call stop-loss a back-door draft that hurts troop morale
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