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| Iraq |
| Pentagon to Pay Troops’ Travel Expenses |
| 2003-12-03 |
| In an effort to bolster military morale, the Pentagon soon will begin paying travel expenses for troops to get all the way home on leave from Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost of that extra leg for tens of thousands of soldiers: $55 million. Excellent! Until now, the largest R&R program since the Vietnam War has flown soldiers only to three cities in the United States and two in Germany, leaving them to pay airfare for connecting flights if they want to go farther. Some airlines offered discount fares to help, and a congressman started a program in which Americans donated millions of their frequent flyer miles for service members to use to get home. Damn. First I heard of that, I’ve got a few ten thousand miles sitting there that I’ll never use. But officials said Tuesday they were working up a plan for the Defense Department to begin reimbursing troops for the connecting flights with the $55 million authorized recently by Congress for the coming year. ``If it comes to pass as envisioned by members of Congress, this would be the most generous gesture on behalf of the American people,’’ said Maj. Pete Mitchell of U.S. Central Command. Such full payment of travel expenses for home leave is unprecedented. To give troops some relief, the Pentagon in late September started giving two-week leaves. So far more than 27,000 troops have taken the leaves. The Army said Tuesday it had set no firm date for the start of the reimbursement program, which requires changes in federal travel regulations. Officials were working on details such as how much would be paid to each soldier, and whether it would be retroactive to cover those who have already taken leave. ``The devil is in the details,’’ Mitchell said. But the intent is to pay the full cost of commercial airfare that troops need to get home from three drop-off points in the states - Baltimore, Dallas and Atlanta - and two in Germany. Good! Someone’s been paying attention. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Given the amount of money we settled on the airlines after 9/11, they ought to provide the flights pro bono... |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-12-3 11:24:37 AM |
| #1 Meanwhile, as details are being worked out, there are still more than 470 soldiers a day arriving in the U.S. For more info, go here: http://www.heromiles.org/ |
| Posted by: Sherry 2003-12-3 2:58:39 AM |