Stop-loss special pay is a $500 a month compensation paid to servicemembers who have had their military service involuntarily extended under a stop-loss order since Oct. 1, 2008.

Initial Payment
Servicemembers currently stop-lossed will begin to receive an extra $500 in pay on April 1, 2009. This initial payment will pay eligible servicemembers for the month of March 2009.  Eligible servicemembers will continue to receive a payment for each subsequent month they are under the stop-loss extension.

Retroactive Payments
The Army expects to make lump sum retroactive compensation for stop-loss periods dating back to Oct. 1, 2008 by June 2009.

Combat Zone Tax Exclusion
The combat zone tax exclusion applies for months servicemembers spent deployed while stop-lossed.

Eligibility
Any servicemember who has been stop-lossed at anytime since Oct. 1, 2008 is eligible. However, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force stopped using stop-loss to retain force levels in 2003. This means that the Army is currently the only service which will be required to pay this compensation.

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