Three-fourths of stop-loss claims accepted

[unhappycamper]

Three-fourths of stop-loss claims accepted
Posted : Friday Dec 4, 2009 11:37:42 EST

For 1,091 airmen who were forced to stay in uniform past the end of their term of enlistment or retirement date, retroactive stop-loss pay is on the way.

During the first four weeks after the Air Force began accepting claims for retroactive stop-loss pay, the service approved more than three-fourths of the applicants for a lump-sum payment equal to $500 for every month or partial month they were involuntarily held on active duty between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009.

The 39,000 airmen affected by the Defense Department’s stop-loss policy have until Oct. 21, 2010, to file a claim. The Air Force used stop-loss to reduce attrition at the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As of Nov. 17, 1,398 claims had been received at the Air Force Personnel Center, said Lt. Col. John Giles, chief of retirements and separations in the Directorate of Force Management Policy. Of the 1,398, 55 were disapproved and 252 had not yet been adjudicated; the rest had been approved.

Disapproved claims were from people who either did not have an established retirement or separation date when they were stop-lossed or were not forced to stay in beyond their established dates, Giles said.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/12/airforce_stoploss_120409w/