Stop the loss

To the Army for failing to implement the stop-loss allowances for which 13,000 soldiers are eligible under the law. Last year, Congress approved funding to pay up to $500 per month to those soldiers affected by stop-loss orders. The money was supposed to be available from Oct. 1. Yet the Army and Pentagon still have not come up with a payroll plan. And the reason for the treacle-slow progress was no clearer after a House Armed Services military personnel panel hearing in March. Curtis Gilroy, the Defense Department’s director of accession policy, would not provide details or predict when a decision on stop-loss payments would be made. Army personnel chief Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle also would not answer questions about details of the allowance. What’s the problem? It’s time for the Army to get a plan and pay stop-lossed soldiers what they’re due by law.