A stop-loss keeps you from leaving the military. There was a guy in my unit who had one week left on his contract and they put out a stop-loss. He spent the next year in Iraq with me. It's how the military can keep you in against your will, even though you have a signed contract to a certain date, it negates the contract and you're in until they decide to release you. Fortunately he came home to his family.

I'm stubborn but I'm straight.

I did not know, but I found this: "Stop-loss, in the United States military, is the involuntary extension of a service member's active duty service under the enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond their initial end of term of service (ETS) date. It also applies to the cessation of a permanent change of station (PCS) move for a member still in military service. Stop-loss was used immediately before and during the first Persian Gulf War. Since then, it has been used during American military deployments to Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent War on Terror. The policy has been legally challenged several times, however federal courts have consistently found that military service members contractually agree that their term of service may be involuntarily extended." "During August 2007, Iraq Veterans Against the War, an activist organization of former and current service members, announced a national "Stop the Stop-Loss" campaign at a press conference where they were holding a week-long vigil in a tower erected on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Other anti-Stop-Loss vigils have occurred in Bellingham, Washington, and Colorado Springs, Colorado." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-loss_policy

yes they can even call you back into service why do you think it was approved for hush up pay for stop loss funny how those contracts work when it comes to goverment they have the right when it comes to private sector you will be found in violation. reason say this is you can get stopped loss even if fullfilled obligated time lol. i know currently under stop loss and fullfilled obligated time not complaining tho i knew what i was getting myself into when i signed up lol.