Incentive offered to troops to stay with unit

[unhappycamper]

Incentive offered to troops to stay with unit
By Jim Tice - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 9, 2010 6:08:08 EDT

Short-timers headed to the combat theater again are being offered special pay of up to $500 per month if they agree to stay with their unit through its deployment.

The Deployment Extension Incentive Pay program was first introduced last year as the Army prepared to wean itself off the stop-loss policies that have been used in various forms since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Stop-loss restrictions no longer apply to active-duty units that have deployed since Jan. 1, and National Guard and Army Reserve units sent into theater since last September and August.

Deployed soldiers who arrived in theater before the cutoff dates, and who have been involuntarily retained in service because of stop-loss, will continue to receive $500 for every month they are held in service beyond their expiration term of service date.

The newly revised Deployment Extension Incentive Pay, or DEIP, program is available to active-duty enlisted soldiers who are assigned to units designated for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.