I found this:
BTW, the military is using stop loss orders to keep people in the military and not pushing them out. See
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...un17,1,2049220.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
On June 2, the Army announced a so-called stop-loss order that extended the enlistments of thousands of soldiers by up to 18 months. Stoner and Ponciano canceled their flights home, went to see their supply sergeant for a new consignment of gear and prepared for another tour of combat duty.....
The stop-loss order - which Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has referred to as a "back-door draft" - prevents soldiers from leaving the Army if their unit is within 90 days of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan. Soldiers also must remain on active duty for 90 days after their unit completes its scheduled yearlong combat tour. The Army Reserve and National Guard have been under a similar order since 2002......
"There's no doubt the Army is stretched thin today," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "But I think the real question the stop-loss order raises is, how voluntary is the all-volunteer force? The whole notion behind an all-volunteer force is that people commit to a certain tour of duty" - and both enlistees and the military honor the commitment.
The U.S. military, facing a more tenacious insurgency than it had anticipated, had planned to reduce troop strength in Iraq this summer to 105,000.
Instead, the Pentagon will increase it by 5,000 soldiers and Marines, to 145,000. In addition to the stop-loss order, the military has maintained its ranks by tapping into the National Guard and Army Reserve and extending units in Iraq beyond their yearlong tours.
Also see
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/6/24/104815.shtml (Dawnct's favorite sourse)
Despite denials that the U.S. plans to re-institute the draft, the Pentagon has stepped up preparations for a new Selective Service System that could allow for a full-blown draft by next year....
On June 2, the Army announced a so-called stop-loss order that extended the enlistments of thousands of soldiers by up to 18 months. Stoner and Ponciano canceled their flights home, went to see their supply sergeant for a new consignment of gear and prepared for another tour of combat duty.
"Todd was real depressed when he called to say the Army wasn't going to let him out," Stoner's father, Ken, said. "He had plans for college, plans with his girlfriend. But he'll go with the flow. What I don't understand, though, is if we're so short of manpower in a volunteer Army that soldiers can't get discharged, why don't we have a draft? I don't like a draft, but maybe we need one."
The stop-loss order - which Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has referred to as a "back-door draft" - prevents soldiers from leaving the Army if their unit is within 90 days of deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan. Soldiers also must remain on active duty for 90 days after their unit completes its scheduled yearlong combat tour. The Army Reserve and National Guard have been under a similar order since 2002.
Army commanders did not cite a manpower shortage as a reason for the order. They said the rationale for delaying retirements and other discharges was to ensure the Army had "cohesive, trained units going to war together." In the Vietnam War, units often were more or less patched together with soldiers who did not know one another.
"There's no doubt the Army is stretched thin today," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "But I think the real question the stop-loss order raises is, how voluntary is the all-volunteer force? The whole notion behind an all-volunteer force is that people commit to a certain tour of duty" - and both enlistees and the military honor the commitment.
The U.S. military, facing a more tenacious insurgency than it had anticipated, had planned to reduce troop strength in Iraq this summer to 105,000.
Instead, the Pentagon will increase it by 5,000 soldiers and Marines, to 145,000. In addition to the stop-loss order, the military has maintained its ranks by tapping into the National Guard and Army Reserve and extending units in Iraq beyond their yearlong tours.