Getting out, military retirement, military to civilian transition - Army Times

Retirement: Stop-loss

Stop-loss authority allows the services to retain individuals on active duty beyond their dates of separation, thus preventing them from voluntarily retiring or leaving the service.

Stop-loss implementation authority was assigned to the secretary of defense by an executive order Sept. 14, 2001, and in turn was assigned to the heads of the individual services.

Check with your career personnel officer about how stop-loss may affect you.