Four Republican Congressmen this week sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urging him to not use “stop-loss” to ensure the Pentagon can send 21,000 additional troops to Iraq under President Bush’s new plan. Leading the “end stop-loss” charge, again—he did this last year, as well—is Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.). He is joined by Randy Kuhl (N.Y.), Steven LaTourette (Ohio), and James Ramstad (Minn.). (The Air Force and Navy early in the war on terror employed stop-loss, but the Army has continued the practice over the years.) The primary question posed to Gates by the legislators: How will the department provide the manpower for the surge?
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.