Army officials said they were making changes to the unpopular stop-loss policy, which can keep a soldier in service past his or her commitment if the soldier’s unit is due to deploy within 90 days.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the Army would do away with stop-loss in all but extreme cases.

Currently, the army has 13,000 soldiers under stop-loss orders. The plan is to cut the number of stop-loss troops in half by June 2010 and eliminate its use across the entire Army by March 2011.

It’s an announcement retired Army Chaplain Ben McCoy was happy to hear. He said stop-loss puts a tremendous strain on soldiers and their loved ones.

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The need for treatment centers for soldiers is rising across the United States but Corps V.I.P. is working to fill that need starting in Southern Utah.

According to the Department of Defense, more than 1.6 million soldiers have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. Approximately 30 percent of those veterans will experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and nearly as many will become alcoholics or binge drinkers. A high percentage will experience divorce and some will take their own lives.

These challenges are the result of the tragedies the soldiers have faced in combat, and they can last a lifetime.

Dr. Sid Young understands these issues well and has joined forces with Corps V.I.P. as director and consulting psychologist. Young has served since 1986 as a U.S. Army Chaplain assisting soldiers and families with reintegration. From November of 2003 to September of 2005 while in Germany, he greeted, briefed and counseled with more than 600,000 soldiers, earning him the title, “The chaplain.”

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Spouses of soldiers in the 18th Airborne Corps have a better idea of how to reconnect with their other halves upon redeployment, thanks to the Army’s Battlemind reunion training. “Reunion is not always easy, is it?” Army Chaplain (Col.) Larry McCarty, a Task Force Bragg chaplain, asked at the beginning of the training, which began here March 4.

The Army created Battlemind to help soldiers and families adapt to the changes and difficulties that come with redeployment. While the current training here was for spouses, soldiers receive the training immediately before deployments and after redeployments.

“Even if you’ve been through multiple deployments, each one is different,” said Angie Streets, program manager for mobilization and deployment, Army Community Service. “It is important for you to discuss your expectations and what your spouse’s expectations are when he [or she] returns from deployment.”

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