Stop Loss (Not specifically a NAVAIR issue but will seriously affect it)

"Bill Kambic" wrote...
Got this from MOA today:

Issue 3: Stop-Loss: The New Draft

The more we think about the Defense Department's plan to meet wartime
requirements for the next few years, the more concerned we get.

The plan is to increase Army manning by 30,000 for the next few years.
But that won't be accomplished through additional recruiting, as most of
us tend to think when we hear those words. It will be accomplished mainly
by barring current members from leaving when their terms of service are up
- a policy known as "stop-loss." The plan is to keep stop-loss in place
through 2005, for thousands of active duty, Guard and Reserve troops.

That is totally absurd -- though totally representative of our current political
climate!

Stop Loss is probably a valid weapon to use when a crisis BEGINS, and manning
cannot be increased sufficiently, soon enough. However, the current "crisis"
started over 2 years ago, and there has been ample time for the personnel
[mis]management people to see the stark reality, notice that the Reserves and
Guard would not be able to sustain their augmentation rates forever, and start
to re-man the active forces.

If DoD decides to use Stop Loss as a continuous personnel mismanagement tool,
not only NAVAIR will be adversely affected, but the entire recruiting system! --
"Uh, yes, your enlistment term is 4 years, but the Army reserves the right to
keep you in forever if we can't get another sucker to volunteer for a life
term..."