Soldiers in Kandahar Upset About Leave

[bossi]

(just kidding - I'[m not suggesting they're subsidizing those new executive jets for the Prime Minister with this money ... however, one supposes the Army might have had more money for PSP if the CF hadn't been forced to buy ... )

Tuesday, April 9, 2002
Troops to pay for privacy
R-and-R in single room is $250

By PAUL COWAN, SUN MEDIA

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian troops serving at the coalition base at Kandahar airport are up in arms about how their leave is being dealt with.

The military is giving them four days off at a friendly state in the Persian Gulf.

But if they want a single room at the hotel, they will have to pay $250 out of their own pockets for the four nights.

"R-and-R is supposed to be about getting away from the guy you share a tent with his stinking feet and farts," one sergeant said. "The last thing you need is someone else's snoring keeping you awake."

The fact that two planeloads of top brass flew in from Ottawa last week but no mail has arrived for two weeks also has some soldiers peeved.

"I'd rather see a package from home than a bunch of stirrup hangers showing up for a free holiday," the sergeant said.

Stories of air force and support staff living high on the hog in the same Gulf state have only rubbed salt in the soldiers' wounds.

'A LOT MORE'

The man responsible for the soldiers' welfare, Capt. Darryl Mills, said he sympathizes with the complainers but they are getting the best deal available.

"Ten days ago people were bitching because there wasn't going to be an R-and-R," he said. "Then it was going to cost them $1,000 out of their own pockets. What is on offer now is a lot more than other soldiers on other tours have received."

Some soldiers aren't keen on going to the Gulf in any case.

"If you get caught drinking in public, you can get jailed for life," said one master corporal. "And there's the bounty for capturing a member of the coalition."

He said top commanders had rejected plans to send the troops to Germany or Cyprus for their break.

"It's stuff like this that just eats into morale."

 

[Harry]

You would think that with all the SOP‘s, Rules, Regulations and Orders that the Department has, we would of ironed out the R&R thing a long long LONG time ago. Yet on each and every tour (including long established ones), the rules change.

It clearly shows that we reinvent the wheel every time a new battle group is deployed. R&R’s have been a contentious issue since the pull out of Cyprus and closure of CFE. If the CF was truly interested in moral (NOT), our troops would be thrown onto a plane a dropped off at Rhein–Mein in Germany, given a billet and 72 hrs. In the not so distant past a 72 had one day of travel tucked onto each end to accommodate for this.

Hey, maybe utilize one of the new Challengers for this role, about the right size, and the range-not to mention the cost effectiveness.

The BS about the cost’s. Imagine that, with the demise of the PERI’s (who used to run the welfare and R&R programs in theatre) and the introduction of Unit rep’s, the system has been in perpetual chaos. With no set model, other than the direction of a CO, the system is pretty wide open. How many people have heard of the welfare NCO/Officer taking kick backs (living like Kings at the R&R centre) while the troops spend three days just muddling through (because the R&R centre is disorganized, unprepared and the welfare rep is hard to find. Out taking care of business selling jewelry, brothel runs, drunk, etc). Any one heard of the Sigs guy sent home from Nairobi in 94 or good ole Reno Vanier in Haiti (he was the Comd taking travel kick backs, be interested to know, how far that graft truly spread). How many tours were going on in the Mid 90’s and each one had a different welfare set up/cost to send troops on R&R and leave?

We have placed PSP reps in the Balkans (most ops), but these are individuals who have little or no mil history (for the most part) and in a couple of cases are either winging it or just don’t care about the big picture. They do the immediate things and plan to the best of their abilities (based upon the direction of the CO), but there is a lot to be desired, especially with the costs incurred to the troops and little or no R&R budget.

If the CF truly cared about soldier’s welfare, this would not be happening. It is but another example of how out of line the needs of the org and the care of the troops is. Wonder what would happen if a couple of the troops get absolutely pie eyed in ***** and get arrested, I cringe to even think of it.

I know I shouldn’t dwell on the past, but in this case, we have a lot of track history showing that the R&R thing is not taken serious, kind of a mission after thought. In order to keep troops on line and focused, you have to take then out of situ and let them release once and a while. To make the R&R as stressful as being in the mission area, what’s the point? What’s the benefit?