But with Sasso's obligation to the Army set to expire in September 2008, the weary soldier was looking forward to the end of his military career.

Recently, however, Sasso learned his unit is scheduled to return to Iraq two months after his contract ends. And that makes it likely that the Sandy native - whose wife is pregnant with the couple's first child - will be involuntarily extended for the duration of a third combat tour.

Legislation proposed by Rep. John Murtha would end so-called "stop-loss" policies, which since 2001 have forced nearly 22,000 service members - mostly Army soldiers - to continue serving in the military after their contracts have expired. Veterans advocates say the policies are widely unpopular with troops. And Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently asked his service branch chiefs to find ways to limit its use.

Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam combat veteran, attached the stop-loss legislation to a host of other training, funding and deployment provisions he acknowledged were designed to bring an end to the war in Iraq.

That put the plan on the wrong side of many Republicans and made it a "nonstarter" with conservative Democrats such as Utah Rep. Jim Matheson.

The former Marine colonel is said to be reworking his pitch.

But many members of Congress - including Utah's delegates - appear reluctant to support an end to the stop-loss scheme, even as a stand-alone issue.

Sen. Bob Bennett said he recognized that holding troops past their promised separation dates was "a burden" but that military readiness trumps personal sacrifice.

"In a time of war, this policy is an important tool for the military to use to address immediate threats to our national security," said Bennett, who served as a National Guard chaplain from 1957 to 1960. "Stop-loss is one of the conditions of voluntary service in the military."

"Ridiculous," responds Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "It's not a volunteer military if you can't get out."

Rieckhoff, a veteran of hundreds of combat patrols in Iraq, acknowledged that the military has the legal authority to hold service members past their contracts. But that doesn't make it right and it doesn't mean it makes sense, he said.

"There are very few policies that more profoundly impact morale in a negative way," Rieckhoff said. "If they think stop-loss - sending people back for a third or fourth tour when they should be out - is what folks in the military anticipated or their families expected, then they don't understand military personnel."

Bound, for now

Sasso now faces a difficult choice: A forthcoming promotion carries with it the stipulation of two more years in the Army.

Sasso said he's always planned to turn down the promotion, but "right now, things being as they are, I am already planning on taking it," he said.

"Since I will be stuck in anyway, I might as well spend that time at a higher pay grade."

There are a few variables: Murtha's legislation is one, and a new Democrat push to force President Bush to withdraw forces from Iraq - administration officials have threatened a veto - is another.

But with his future up in the air - and a possible third tour in Iraq looming - Sasso doesn't feel he's getting much of a choice in the matter. And that upsets him.

"Someone who wants to get out of the military after their commitment is over and then gets stop-lossed is no longer a volunteer," he said.

"It is not the soldiers' fault that we got ourselves into a war that we weren't prepared to fight, so why are we asked to pay the price?"

mlaplante@sltrib.com