CENTCOM R&R program sends 100,000th Soldier home on leave
By Cpl. Matt Millham
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (Army News Service, Aug. 26, 2004) -- Almost a year after its inception, the rest and recuperation program for American troops engaged in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom reached a milestone when the 100,000th troop in the program flew out of the Central Command theater of operations Aug. 26.
The 100,000 R&R Soldier is Sgt. Charles Petty, who has been stationed at Camp Steel Dragon in Baghdad and attached to the 89th Military Police Brigade.
Army Col. Louis Yuengert, who formally announced the Soldier’s name and presented gifts to the Petty, told the crowd of roughly 500 R&R Soldiers waiting for flights out of Kuwait, “This Soldier represents you.”
Petty appeared both accepted an armload of gifts that included a free round-trip flight to anywhere in the world for Petty and a family member and a $200 Army Air Force Exchange Service gift certificate.
“It’s a wonderful way to start off R&R,” said Petty. “Now I’ve got another story to tell the folks at home.”
Petty had not been warned of his designation before arriving at Camp Doha, Kuwait, where troops are processed on their way out of Southwest Asia for the R&R program.
Though awarded a trip to any place of his choosing, Petty wasn’t quick to announce any further travel plans. “Right now, I’m just going to my home town of Gillette, Wyo.,” said Petty. “I’ll get home and talk to a couple of people and see what I can get going.”
He suggested he might take a trip to Las Vegas, a city to which he has never traveled but had been told by friends he had to visit. He left some money in his checking account for R&R, but hadn’t expected to have the opportunity that’s now fallen into his lap.
As for the gift certificate, “Right now, I don’t really have the room for anything [in Baghdad],” said Petty.
Preparation for the 100,000th Soldier began almost a month ago when organizers of the R&R program realized they were coming up on the landmark number, said Lt. Col. Frazlier L. Pope, chief of R&R programs for operations in and supporting Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We had folks who stepped up … once they realized the significance of the 100,000th R&R Soldier,” said Frazlier.
Recognizing the 100,000th traveler with the pageantry displayed Thursday was in large part designed to help bring attention to the program’s role in maintaining the morale and physical and psychological well-being of American troops serving overseas.
“People may not realize the value and the impact it has on sustaining the force,” said Maj. Edgardo Pimentel, R&R officer in charge at Camp Doha, Kuwait. “I’m sure the military recognizes its value and tries to make sure the country understands its value, and I think they do. It’s 100,000 Soldiers, but it’s also 100,000 families.”
The CENTCOM R&R program started late last September. It pays for air travel to and from the R&R Soldier’s leave address and allows the Soldier to take a 14-day “stress break” from the CENTCOM area of operations, according to officials. Travel time to and from Kuwait is not included in the 14-day break.
(Editor’s note: Cpl. Matt Millham is editor for The Desert Voice.) |
Sgt. Charles Petty, 89th Military Police Brigade, winner, “It’s a wonderful way to start off R&R. Now I’ve got another story to tell the folks at home.”
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