Struggling to reach those eligible for stop-loss pay
Published: July 28, 2010
With the end of the retroactive stop-loss pay program less than three months away, it is clear that the services have still not figured out a way to reach everyone who is eligible for the compensation.
Troops who were stop-lossed between September 2001 and September 2008 are eligible for $500 for each month they were kept beyond their initial separation date. The program ends on Oct. 21.
But of the roughly 145,000 people eligible for the compensation, only about 30,000 claims have been processed, said Lernes Hebert, acting director of Officer and Enlisted Personnel Management.
The biggest challenge defense officials have faced is getting the word out about the program, Hebert said Wednesday. Officials have tried using social media, sending direct mailings, going to veterans groups, holding bloggers roundtables and putting up posters.
One problem is people are “very mobile” once they leave the service, said Maj. Roy Whitley, who is in charge of the Army’s compensation program.
“These guys go to college and get jobs and it is really hard to track them down, so quite often we actually contact their parents based on the last best address,” Whitley said. “It’s not that they don’t want to be found, it’s just that they are literally suspicious that the Army … is coming out to pay them money.”
Of the people eligible for the pay, about 120,000 come from the Army, 16,000 from the Air Force, 8,900 from the Marines and 250 from the Navy, officials said.
To file a stop-loss pay application, go to:
UPDATE
Claims are sent to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service for payment.
Here is how many claims DFAS has received and paid as of July 23:
- ARMY: 26,825 submitted, 23,748 paid
- MARINE CORPS: 3.704 submitted, 2,851 paid
- AIR FORCE: 3,450 submitted, 3,147 paid
- NAVY: 18 submitted, 18 paid
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