June 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Army personnel from both active and reserve units who are tapped for duty in Iraq or Afghanistan can't retire or transfer until after the unit returns home, the service announced.
It's not clear how many troops will be affected, Lieutenant General Franklin Hagenbeck, deputy chief of staff for personnel, said. The last time the Army gave this order was during the 1990 build-up to the Persian Gulf War and it affected 45,000, he told a breakfast meeting of defense reporters in Washington.
The order is the latest move to buttress U.S. forces in Iraq. Earlier, tours for 20,000 soldiers were extended three months, a brigade of 3,600 troops was moved from South Korea to Iraq, and the Army said that two premier units used to train deploying units will themselves be sent to Iraq.
The U.S. plans to keep at least 138,000 troops in Iraq through 2005. The intent to cut the force to between 105,000 and 115,000 troops as political power is turned over to an interim Iraqi government was shelved in the face of renewed insurgencies that produced the deadliest fighting since the last year's war.
President George W. Bush yesterday warned Americans to expect more violence before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty. ``There's still violent people who want to stop progress,'' he told reporters at the White House in Washington.
The Army's new ``stop-loss'' order for its force in Iraq ``will diminish over time,'' Hagenbeck said. ``As the (troop) footprint shrinks and conditions change within Iraq there will be fewer units to deploy in that theater.''
He said it would be inaccurate to portray the ``stop-loss'' order as a desperate step to retain troops.
``It's the wrong conclusion to draw -- it's not a search for troops,'' Hagenbeck said. ``We are trying to take units that were manned about the same time and that have trained together to deploy together,'' he said. ``We've got people raising their hand that want to go,'' he said.
http://quote.bloombe...UBMQlI&refer=us
If the US Army were all British they would all mutter: "You right BASTARDS!" It would be awesome.