New leave program has soldiers torn

BALTIMORE – The first troops to take advantage of the Army’s unprecedented R&R program left Sunday to return to Iraq, many saying they felt energized by their two weeks of rest and recuperation.

“It’ll make the next six months easier to get used to,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Whitaker, 33, of San Antonio.

The 200 troops were among the first to rotate home, according to an Army spokesman.

Two weeks into the most ambitious home leave program since the Vietnam War, thousands of military families are struggling with how to cope when Johnny comes marching home again – then marches back the way he came.

At the Pentagon, officials say they expect some soldiers not to show up for their flights back to Iraq, and they expect others to be so deeply torn at leaving their families again that they will have trouble coping when they return to the war.

But with 130,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq in a military occupation that has become prolonged and bloody, and with tension mounting among service members and their families over yearlong deployments, military officials said they had little choice but to institute the program in an effort to boost morale.

Before long, officials say, 800 soldiers a day will be flying out of Iraq on leave. They predict the program will cost the Pentagon $770 million this year alone.

“We know we’re going to have crying family members clinging to soldiers at the airport,” said Joe Burgas, a Pentagon spokesman. “We know we’re going to have people who don’t make it back on time, maybe people who don’t make it back at all. But most soldiers are going to say, ‘I’ve got buddies over there, and they are dependent on me coming back.’ “

The decision to grant the leaves to troops serving abroad for 12 months or more in Iraq and Kuwait is a gamble for the Pentagon. Not only do commanders run the risk that some soldiers will not return to duty, they also fear that some reunions could lead to domestic violence if soldiers and spouses fail to adjust to their changed roles. And if the program does not run smoothly, it could backfire, intensifying the anger and frustration that military families already feel over the arduous deployments.

But many of those returning to Iraq on Sunday expressed otherwise.

“Morale is kind of low over there,” said Whitaker, who serves with a forward surgical team. “So I think this will make the guys feel a whole lot better.”

Staff Sgt. Jeffery Hannon, 32, of Fort Hood, Texas, said, “I tried to cram as much family time as I could. I took my 8-year-old son to a couple of football games, and I got reacquainted with my daughter.”

Hannon said his daughter was 4 months old when he left for Iraq in January and was just beginning to say “Daddy.”

“It was good to let her know that she still has a Daddy,” Hannon said.

Hannon, who serves with the 13th CosCom support unit, described his leave as “a bittersweet kind of deal. It helped our families to see us again. By the same token, we had to leave again.”

Sgt. First Class Kenneth George, 45, said Iraq was his third and most difficult deployment. George, who served in Desert Storm and Bosnia, said it was harder to get adjusted to home life than it will be to readjust to military life.

He said it took him a couple of days to wind down from the constant threat of attack and the trauma of seeing buddies wounded or killed. “But as soon as we get back there and hear the gunfire and the mortar fire, we’ll snap right back.”

Many of the troops said they found the public very supportive, regardless of how people may have felt about the war. They described seeing yellow ribbons and road signs welcoming them home.

Soldiers who had been wounded and returned to duty – and those with newborn children they have not seen – are at the top of the list to be granted leaves.

For soldiers who qualify for the leaves, the Pentagon is scrambling to devise a uniform screening system that would limit the likelihood of granting leave to someone who is a flight risk or who is likely to be abusive at home.

“Just because you’re eligible doesn’t mean you’re going to get this leave,” Pentagon spokesman Burgas said. “The Army is concerned about the potential for domestic violence, with spouses at home used to having more independence than they have experienced before. And if some guy is telling his buddies that once he gets out he’s never coming back, his commander is just is not going to let him go. It’s harsh, but it’s true.”