Pentagon approves 3-day increase to 18 days total R&R for troops on 15-month deployment

Soldiers with the 32nd Field Artillery Regiment prepare to search a house in the Mansour area Baghdad during a clearing operation on July 3rd.

Service members on 15-month deployments to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom will soon receive 18 days of R&R leave instead of the typical 15 days, according to a July 13 memo signed by Dr. David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

The change applies to all service members, but only the Army has standard 15-month deployments. Rest and recuperation time will stay at 15 days for troops who serve fewer than 15 months in theater...

Central Command’s R&R leave program began Sept. 25, 2003, and about 420 service members fly home from the war zone on R&R leave every day, according to information from the Army. Two chartered commercial planes fly troops and Defense Department civilians from Kuwait International Airport to two U.S. hubs, Atlanta and Dallas.

Read the rest at Army Times

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