Eight soldiers are going to court to challenge the Army’s stop-loss policy, which requires them to serve longer than the terms of their enlistment contracts.

The soldiers are filing suit in federal court in Washington, D.C. with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

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Five of the soldiers who are suing are stationed in Iraq, two are in Kuwait on their way to Iraq and one is home on leave from Iraq, but about to be shipped back.

Only one of the plaintiffs is named: Arkansas National Guard Spc. David Qualls, who signed up in July 2003 for what he was told would be a one-year stint in the guard.

In March 2004 he was sent to Taj, Iraq, where he remains, more than four months after his enlistment was supposed to have ended.

He's been told he will remain on active duty in Iraq until next year.

"I believe I served my country honorably," Qualls said.

“Even though I did not expect to be rotated to Iraq, I did my time and served to the best of my ability. And I was proud to serve. But the Army made an agreement with me and I expected them to honor it. Iraq is a very dangerous place and I have a family to support. I did what I said I would; it's only fair that the Army do the same,” he said in a prepared release.

Under the Pentagon's "stop-loss" program, the Army can extend
enlistments during war or national emergencies.

Stop-loss orders apply to soldiers whose enlistments are scheduled to end 90 days before deployment, during deployment or 90 days after deployment.

The lawsuit says the policy is a breach of the service contract
because it extends the length of service without a soldier's
consent.