by Eric M. Grill
Air Force Personnel, Service and Manpower Public Affairs
10/14/2011 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- The Oct. 21 deadline to apply for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay is fast approaching.
Airmen who were involuntarily held on active duty between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2004, may be eligible for the special pay compensation of $500 for each month they were affected.
The 2009 War Supplemental Appropriation Act set aside $534.4 million for the retroactive stop-loss special pay compensation authority. Officials said Sept. 1 only $219 million has been paid so far.
Eligibility includes active, retired and former servicemembers as well as members of the reserve component who served on active duty while their enlistment or period of obligated service was involuntarily extended, or whose eligibility for separation or retirement was suspended as a result of Stop Loss.
More than 8,220 current and former Airmen have been approved for retroactive stop-loss special pay since Air Force Personnel Center officials here began accepting claims in 2009, officials said.
Claims are evaluated based upon historical records as well as all supporting documentation that the applicant may submit, said Capt. Rose Englebert, chief of the AFPC Separations Branch.
"The more information the member provides, the better," she said.
Air Force officials used stop-loss for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and 2002 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The deadline to apply, originally set for October 2010, was extended to allow for more people affected to apply for the retroactive pay. To file a claim, eligible members or legally designated beneficiaries may download a stop-loss claim application at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/stoploss.
"If you are unsure as to whether or not you are eligible, you have nothing to lose by applying," Englebert said.
For information about this, and other personnel issues, visit the Air Force Personnel Services website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.
