As the deadline nears for veterans to apply for special pay for having been “stop-lossed” after 9/11, the Defense Department has set up a fast-lane for one group of applicants: survivors of those who have died since leaving the military.

“Every week we get applications from surviving family members,” said Maj. Roy Whitley, the Army’s Project Manager for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay. “We deal with those one-on-one, and we do as much work as we can and they go to the top of the list.”

Since Congress voted in the 2009 war supplemental to compensate Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who were involuntarily extended on active duty, about 30,000 veterans have been awarded back pay amounting to $500 for every month or partial month they stayed beyond their separation date, Whitley said. The average benefit has been about $3,700, according to the Defense Department.

Deadline for submitting an application is Oct. 21. He said the turnaround time is anywhere from two to four weeks.

Whitley was unable to estimate how many vets or surviving dependents will be eligible for the money, but the Army alone estimates it has 125,000 former Soldiers who should be applying for it.

He said the Army has so far been able to identify more than 80,000 people it knows must be contacted and has sent out letters to more than 50,000. It expects to finish up its identification and out-reach program in about 10 days, he said. In addition the Army has placed information posters up at recruiting offices and veterans centers across the country.

Servicemembers – or their survivors – who were stop-lossed anytime between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009 are eligible for the special pay, according to the DoD.

Applicants need their DD-214 or a personnel record noting their original expiration of service date. Additional information and required source documents can be found on DoD’s website. The department also set up a Stop-Loss Facebook page.

While Whitney works as the Army’s stop-loss retroactive pay program manager, he said all the services are giving applications from survivors individualized, expedited service.

“They’re at a disadvantage [as civilians]. You don’t understand the records, don’t understand the process … you don’t know the regs. That is our job. There is no surviving family member that does not get taken care of immediately.”