The Army has announced thousands of troops will be barred from retiring or leaving the military as planned in order to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. The latest stop-loss order affects all active duty and reserve units that are within 90 days of deploying to either country. Some soldiers who were on the verge of retiring could now be forced to stay in the Army and fight overseas for another year. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday’s announcement marked the broadest effort by the Pentagon so far to prevent soldiers from leaving the military. Military analysts say the new stop-loss order indicates the Army is stretched dangerously thin as it fights the two wars. The Army has also begun combing through the Individual Ready Reserve, a pool of former soldiers, to look for specialists with critically needed skills. The Los Angeles Times reports 5,000 members have already been called up. The Army has also decided to deploy — for the first time since World War II — a training unit at Ft Polk in Louisiana whose job has been to prepare other units being sent to combat. And last month the U.S. transferred 3,600 troops from South Korea to Iraq. One analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. said “It’s clear there was a fundamental miscalculation about how protracted and how intense the ground commitment in Iraq would be.” Sen. Jack Reed a Democrat from Rhode Island warned the move would have “a detrimental impact” on troop morale. He added “It is unfortunate that the administration has resisted attempts to be candid with the American people about the cost and length of this war and the commitments expected from the troops in the field and their families.”