R&R HIATUS

Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey canceled the two-week Rest and Recuperation program for the next two months for the roughly 47,000 soldiers under his command in Baghdad.

“We did make a command decision, that would be me, that we couldn’t do any more environmental leave, R&R, after 31 January,” said Dempsey, commander of the Wiesbaden, Germany-based 1st Armored Division. “We did that principally because we have a mission to accomplish in transitioning the city of Baghdad over to the unit following us.”

Dempsey said Monday during a press briefing from Baghdad that the 1st AD would be leaving “over the next 90 days.”

Several active, Guard and Reserve units fall under Dempsey’s command, working in and around Baghdad.

Troops there had complained of getting mixed messages.

Army leaders in the States tasked with running and speaking for the R&R program said they were not aware of the 1st AD’s decision to cancel leave for such a large population of U.S. forces in country, and had made emphatic statements recently that the program had not been canceled.

Strange that this seems to be a surprise. Those of us in Friedberg learned this the first week of January when the Brigade Commander briefed us at the movie theater.