Expect combat duty extensions to continue

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. military spokesman says the U.S. Army's use of involuntary combat duty extensions, known as stop loss, will probably continue through 2009.

Army Lt. Col. Mike Moose told USA Today that the number of soldiers affected by stop loss will remain at about 12,000 next year, the same number as last month.

Stop loss peaked in 2005 at more than 15,000 troops and fell to 8,500 in May 2007 after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered that involuntary extensions be minimized.

Both Gates and U.S. Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, say the policy is needed to maintain the cohesion of units heading to battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The secretary understands the stress on the Army," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Sunday. "They need to make better progress on this."

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told USA Today he blames the Pentagon's reliance on stop loss on "the failures to properly plan and execute."