Ryan and Christy's Place

Yes, the two little letters that any body with a deployed soldier loves to hear... the old R & R.

Your soldier is coming home, well at least for 15 days.

A little while back Christy made a post regarding R & R and I figured that I would provide a follow up to answer some of the questions she posed back then for anybody that has questions.

The process of getting your leave in can be very very hectic. I had one hell of a time finding out when mine would be after getting it bumped up from July to April. I was told April 1-15, then was told that that was more of a window than an actual time frame for my leave. That really sucked considering the reason that I had asked for the leave to be bumped up in the first place was so that I could plan the wedding date, go figure.

But alas, after bugging the crap out of my first sergeant, I know when I'm supposed to leaving out of here and when I'm supposed to be home.

Usually your soldier will find know well ahead of time what month that he is getting his leave. Each of us had to request a time that we wanted it when we first got here so that the powers in charge could get an idea of how many people they'd be short. Like in my case I got a "window" of when I'd go home, and I found out the actual date I would leave this past week, so your soldier should know when he/she is leaving at least two weeks in advance.

The process of getting a soldier home isn't the easiest of tasks. From our side we have to attend briefings, sign all sorts of paperwork promising that we won't dart for Canada etc. From those who wait, it can be very frustrating trying to get time off of work to plan for those two weeks.

I can't say where all that you go on your process to get home because of security reasons, but soldiers will make several stops along the way before getting out of the Middle East. These are to get you from Iraq to Kuwait then turn in body armor, weapon, kevlar etc. Once leaving Kuwait, soldiers then fly to Germany. From Germany they will fly into either Atlanta or Dallas, I believe there is another major airport that they can fly to, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. From one of those airports they will fly to the nearest major airport to your location.

Soldiers get approximately 15 days of leave time. This time officially starts the midnight after they arrive in Atlanta or Dallas and contact the appropriate entities there. The Army for once really values the soldier getting this time and doesn't try to screw us out of this surprisingly.

To answer Christy's jet lag question, it usually takes up to three days to recover from jet lag.

I really think it's a true blessing that we are even granted leave at all. I heard that it really does a lot for boosting morale among the soldiers, and I'm sure I will experience that feeling as well after getting to see my family for a couple of weeks. I've heard that it's all downhill once you get back though, in my case we shouldn't have too much longer over here after I get back, and it'll be the final stretch to the victory's circle and for my regiment to get the heck out of Iraq for good.

If anybody has any specific questions about leave, just let me know and I'll do my best to help you out.

- Ryan