MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- The Marine Corps initiated Stop Loss and Stop Move policies, which became effective Wednesday, in order to stabilize the Corps' manpower to meet the needs of unscheduled deployments in support of operational requirements.
Stop Loss is a short-term policy that keeps Marines in their current assignments by preventing them from leaving the Marine Corps at their End of Active-duty Service dates, according to Lt. Col. Brian J. Byrne, director of MMEA-6. The policy involuntarily extends each active duty and reserve component Marine's date of separation, according to Marine Administrative message 007/03.
The current Stop Loss measure is the first wide scale implementation of the policy since the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. The Marine Corps received approval from the Secretary of the Navy, Gordon R. England, to enact the Stop Loss policy, but the implementation of Stop Move did not require England's approval.
Stop Move, according to Byrne, is a similar policy that keeps Marines at their current duty station by temporarily preventing their move to another assignment. All Marines, whether active or reserve, officer or enlisted, can be affected by these policies.
Because the term of these policies is indefinite, Stop Loss and Stop Move will affect enlisted and officer Marines in a variety of ways. Byrne estimated that 16,000 Marines will be affected by Stop Loss between Feb. 15 and Sept. 30 the remainder of fiscal year 2003 while 2,000 officers and 4,500 enlisted Marines could potentially be affected by the Stop Move policy. The number of Marines affected by Stop Move will increase the longer the policy remains active.
Marines who were scheduled to separate before Feb. 15 will still be allowed to do so. All those with later dates, however, will remain in their current service status until further notice.
Marines who were due to retire before April 1 will retire as planned, according to Byrne. Marines planning to retire after April 1 will still be scheduled to retire unless their commanding officers request cancellation or delay of the retirement date. Justification for the reason, the Marine's wishes and a concise statement of the impact on the Marine are required to postpone retirements.
While most Marines who had orders to execute a permanent change of station are temporarily staying in their current assignments, some types of PCS moves will execute as planned. Marines going to joint service duty, 'B' billet duty including drill instructor, recruiting, Marine security guard and Marine combat instructor duties Marine security forces, warrant officer basic course, and commissioning programs, will charge ahead with their PCS orders as planned.
The Manpower Division at Headquarters Marine Corps intends to honor as many of the delayed PCS orders as possible, depending on each situation, when the Stop Move policy ceases. The same is true for Marines who expect particular orders for reenlistment, as their change of assignement is termed as a delay, not a cancellation.
First-term Marines who are looking to reenlist are counselled to continue with their reenlistment goals, as fiscal year 2003 boat spaces will not be held over to FY 2004. Boat spaces for FY 2003 may not continue to be available, and FY 2004 boat spaces will not be offered to FTAP Marines who wait.
Marines desiring to reenlist and make a lateral move into another Military Occupational Specialty should proceed with their reenlistments, based on the boat spaces available. Marines who need to attend an MOS school to complete their "latmove" can continue to so if they are scheduled to attend before Feb. 15, or if the Marine's command approves the school dates after Feb. 15. Marines making a "latmove" to a select few MOS's will attend their occupational field school regardless of Stop Move, Byrne said.
Marines who have been denied retention due to service limits, mandatory retirement or administrative discharge will separate as planned. Also, commanding officers can continue to process Marines for separation from service due to disciplinary reasons, and for hardship and medical reasons.
The first general officer in a Marine's chain of command retains the authority to separate individual Marines based on their situations, while Headquarters Marine Corps will have the final approval authority for retirements.
There will likely be more questions that Marines have regarding the effects of the Stop Loss and Stop Move policies. MARADMIN 007/03 details the effects of the current status of Stop Loss, and unit career planners have received guidance on how to assist Marines with these effects.