President Encourages Troops and Veterans to Claim ‘Stop Loss’ Pay

...Obama encourages active duty troops and veterans whose service in Iraq or Afghanistan was involuntarily extended or retirement was suspended due to ‘stop loss’ to apply for the special retroactive pay to which they are entitled.

Found this meandering and thought it should be passed on. The DOD release from 10/2009 is here:

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13063

Seems a lot of vets are unaware the money is available.

Go ahead and apply.

I’m sure you will get paid at least fast as

VA Claims

G I BIll payments

Tricare claim payments.

Etc, et, etc

Bring your lunch.

It's funny. Good NCOs and Officers were given lump sum payments or forced out of the military prior to Desert Storm. A year later the military started a stop loss program to force others in the same rank and career field to stay in. A couple years later they started forcing them out again. After 9/11 they started stop loss again.

It's too bad that politicians can't figure out that the military needs a long term manpower strategy. It takes at least 10 years to fill the voids left after one of these manpower purges.

OBTW - I agree that it's criminal that the people who are owed this money have to jump through hoops to get it.

Good points. It took me two years after I retired for the VA to start my disability. The VA decided I was dead once and told me it would take a year to restart my disability. I attend college for four semesters before the VA started my GI Bill payments. Most of the doctor's in my area wouldn't take TRICARE patients when I retired because it takes the government so long to pay claims. I used the VA hospital a couple of times and it took six months to get an appointment. It didn't matter if the problem was a rash or you were choking to death, it still took six months.

It seems like the VA strategy is to hope you die before they have to deal with you.

I've actually been very happy with the people that I deal with at the VA, it just seems like their policies and procedures are designed to prevent the customers from getting what they're owed. If I'm elected President, I will contract out these services. I'll also abolish the Department of Education, Department of Energy, enact the fair tax and get rid of the IRS, freeze all spending at 2007 budget levels, get rid of all the Czars (except the carp czar - I would keep him around to remind me of how ridiculous the government can be.), and sell off 28 of the 29 private gymnasiums in Washington DC that are used by politicians.

Yor experience mirrors mine - it took more than a year for the VA to start my VEAP payments.

Funny, it took them seconds to take the money out of my check when I was active.

And I agree on the Carp Tsar.

Good luck.

BTW - you will still parts of the IRS for the Fair tax. Someone has to process the chaecks aftr all.

Will you be running next time (2012) or the next election cycle?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.