Marine Stop-Loss

[T1bubba]

This is not a good sign...


Marines Required to Remain on Duty for Next 12 Months

The Associated Press
Thursday, January 9, 2003; 12:38 PM


Preparing for possible war against Iraq, the Marine Corps has taken the unusual step of stopping all Marines from leaving the service for the coming 12 months, officials said Thursday.

The decision was announced to all Marines in an internal message Tuesday from Gen. James Jones, the Marine Corps commandant. He said it applies to active-duty as well as reserve Marines and is effective Jan. 15 through Jan. 31, 2004.

The last time the Marines took this action, known as "stop-loss," was during the buildup to the 1991 Gulf War, said Capt. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at the Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va.

Although the order applies to the entire Marine Corps, which has 173,000 men and women on active duty and 100,000 in the reserves, some exceptions can be made, including for those who already have a retirement date of April 1 or earlier. Commanders also can consider exceptions for personal hardship and other circumstances.

Last fall the Army issued "stop loss" orders for nearly all its Special Forces soldiers, who are heavily engaged in the war in Afghanistan, although the action did not apply to the rest of the force. The Marines are the only ones to apply a "stop loss" action to all service members.

In addition to the approximately 1,000 Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force who recently arrived in Kuwait in anticipation of a possible war against Iraq, thousands more are either heading to the Gulf region from U.S. bases or are preparing to do so in coming weeks.

Specific figures are classified, but Jones said Wednesday in remarks at the National Press Club that if there is a war in Iraq, the Marines likely would contribute between 65,000 and 75,000 troops – mostly from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The Pentagon's Iraq war plan calls for the use of up to 250,000 troops from all services.

 

[CCDiscoB]

It's coming..

...like a dust storm on the horizon.

If you're AD AF thinking about getting out, I'd either schedule my household goods move ASAP (where the line was drawn last Stop-Loss) or resign yourself to the fact that you're in for the next year.

I heard, for the first time today, about my unit activating.

The good news I guess is that it looks like some of the "pools" may not empty out as fast as previously thought forcing companies to start interviewing again.

 

[Jafar]

This may very well directly affect me. I am currently a Marine aviation officer candidate, but I am also currently serving in the Reserve as a tanker. (drilling while in IRR). Prior to stoploss/stopmove I was considered nondeployable due to the candidacy. However now if my unit goes, I must drop out of college and go with them. I would pick up the officer program where I left off when I return. So far no solid word as to weather or not we are going anywhere, but if we send any tanks at all I figure we will have to go, as we only have 4 tank battalions in the whole Corps. We'll see...

 

[Troll]

Not true. If you don't have access to the MARADMIN have your S-1 get it for you, or go to MMOA webpage. There are 10 exceptions, one of which is all commissioning programs to include BOOST. I would verify your info with your command, unless you just want to deploy and wait for your slot when you get back.

 

[Jafar]

I PM'd you sir.

But I found the MARADMIN 007/03

Very interesting. It sounds like if I have actual orders to go to OCS i'm not deployable. I'm working on that, but I don't have such orders yet. My package is complete, but not yet at HQ. If approved I will attend the summer 10 week course.

This needs to be looked into further, and that I am currently doing, but I appreciate the heads up, sir.

 

[Troll]

MARADMINs are posted on NIPRNET for general use. Nothing confidential about it.