Judge: Guardsmen ordered to Iraq can't quit
Separately, Army grants discharge to Reserve captain who sued
From Terry Frieden
CNN Washington Bureau
(CNN) -- A federal judge in Sacramento, California, has upheld the Army's policy of involuntarily extending enlistments, a process critics have called a "backdoor draft," Justice Department officials said Friday.
Two unnamed California National Guard soldiers had sued the government, saying the military's "stop-loss" program to keep Guard and Reserve troops beyond the length of time they had committed to was a violation of their contract.
Officials said government lawyers were awaiting the court's written ruling for details.
The soldiers challenging the policy are combat veterans who signed up for one year under a National Guard program that allows veterans access to military education and medical benefits.
Before their one-year enlistments expired, they were called up under a "stop-loss" program for 18-month tours that included deployment to Iraq. "Stop-loss" orders prevent military personnel who have been tapped for deployment from leaving the service, even if their enlistments are nearly over.
The government argued that a presidential executive order issued three days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, authorizes the call-up to combat terrorism. The soldiers argued the order covered terrorism only, not "nation-building service in Iraq."
But in another case, the Army chose to give an honorable discharge to a captain who filed a lawsuit to block his deployment to Iraq. (Full story)
According to the lawsuit, Capt. Jay Ferriola, 31, resigned from the Army Reserve in June after eight years of service, including four years of active duty. Although he never received a response from the Army on the resignation, he was told to turn in his equipment. But he then received orders to report for active duty with the 306th Military Police Battalion.
His lawsuit against the government claimed lack of due process, involuntary servitude and breach of contract. He said in the lawsuit that the unit would serve in Iraq for a year and a half on a "dangerous mission."
There are are 149,763 Army National Guard and Army Reserve troops on active duty in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a release from the Department of Defense last month.
