Eideard

Guatemalan soldiers carry 1 of 3 coffins – part of a group of 72 migrants killed in Mexico
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

The military will phase out its “stop-loss” program, the contentious practice of holding troops beyond the end of their enlistments, for all but extraordinary situations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced.

The decision to phase out stop loss by 2011 comes in combination with an announcement that soldiers affected by the program will receive a $500-a-month bonus while they are in extended service.

Currently, the Army is the only service that uses the stop-loss program. As of January, 13,217 soldiers had tours extended under the stop-loss policy.

Gates said the change is one he has wanted to implement since he became secretary of defense…

Gates also announced at a wide-ranging news conference that the Defense Department will pay for families of fallen troops to travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to be present for the return of their deceased family members.

The announcement about funding the trips to Dover comes as the Pentagon prepares to allow the media to record the return of fallen troops from overseas, if the families of the troops permit it…

He briefly talked about his own trip to Dover earlier this week, getting emotional as he described going to the back of the plane carrying the coffins.

“I went to the back of the plane by myself and spent time with each of the transfer cases,” he said, his voice beginning to choke up. “I think I’ll stop there.”

RTFA. More openness in this branch, this secretary of war, than there has been since you know when.