Stop-loss program pay now available

Members of the armed forces who served extra time under the Pentagon's stop-loss program can now begin applying for retroactive, additional compensation, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday. The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy began accepting claims Wednesday.

Active, reserve or former service members who served on active duty between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009, are entitled to an added $500 in pay for each month they had an enlistment extended or a planned retirement suspended under the policy, according to press releases from the Defense Department.

Family members of service members who were killed in combat or died after their service also can receive the payments. Claims must be made with the appropriate branch of the military by Oct. 20, 2010.

Julie A. Cupernall, a spokeswoman for the 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, said that deadline "will give us plenty of time to get the word out. There will definitely be a push here on Drum to make sure soldiers know about this information."

All of the division's brigades had soldiers affected by stop-loss during the period to be covered by the retroactive pay, she said.

The special pay was approved by Congress in March in an appropriations bill that gave the Defense Department $534 billion to compensate the approximately 185,000 service members affected by the compulsory service extensions since 9-11, the department's news releases said.

Subsequent federal legislation has provided for the automatic addition of the extra stop-loss pay to the paychecks of service members working under the program after Sept. 30, Lt. Col. Les' Melnyk, a Defense Department spokesman, said Wednesday.

"This is really geared to cover all those folks who, prior to the passage of the 2009 authorization act, had been stop-lossed," he said.

The Defense Department is phasing out widespread use of compulsory service extensions but retains the authority to implement stop-loss measures during a national emergency.

Claims require documentation proving a service member was subject to the stop-loss policy. That can include a certificate of discharge, separation or retirement orders, or memos from the chain-of-command.

But "even if you don't have all the correct documentation, we encourage you to submit and articulate the claim, because the service may have the documentation," Sam Retherford, director for the Defense Department's officer and enlisted personnel management office, said in a department news release.

Members of the armed forces can file claims or obtain information through the appropriate branch:

■ Army: www.stoplosspay.

army.mil or e-mail RetroStopLossPay@conus.army.mil

■ Navy: E-mail NXAG_N132C

@navy.mil

■ Air Force: www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/stoploss

■ Marines: www.manpower.

usmc.mil/stoploss or e-mail stoploss@usmc.mil

Family members of deceased service members are asked to contact the appropriate branch for help in filing a claim.