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American Morning

Operation R&R

Aired September 26, 2003 - 07:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The military's next Iraq mission is Operation R&R, rest and recuperation. The first U.S. Army soldiers deployed in Iraq are getting a two-week leave from combat. Some soldiers began arriving in Germany overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so wonderful to be home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's something you're going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a shower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely, wash up and all of that, eight months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel real great, but I have to go back and do my job in four weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does it feel for your husband to be home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's amazing. It's just great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The scene from Germany.

Now the scene at this moment, the emotional scene repeating itself again today in the U.S. troops arriving at Baltimore-Washington Airport.

Kris Osborn is there live this morning for reaction and more.

Kris -- good morning.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, Bill.

Very emotional indeed. Centcom officials tell us once they realized there would be a large number of forces with 12-month-plus deployment orders, they began, sure enough, as you mentioned, this R&R policy. It's 15 days' leave for service members stationed in Iraq on essentially the front lines, deployment duty if you will. Many of them came from different locations in Iraq, picked up by either a C-5 or a C-130 cargo plane, brought then to Kuwait, then take a chartered flight, as you mentioned, to Germany, then right here to BWI, Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

I am standing here now with two very happy recipients of the new R&R policy. We are here with Ron and Jody.

Ron, with the 173rd Airborne Squadron, let me start with you. What's been the reaction to this R&R policy, this 15 days' leave?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when we first heard about it, we didn't think it was really going to come into effect. We heard that they were trying to implement it within the next few days. And I had no prior warning. It was Monday night when my first sergeant came in and said I was leaving at 0530 in the morning. And I just had a few hours to pack my stuff and roll out. And ever since then, it's just kind of been a whirlwind.

The guys back in the unit were pretty jealous. They were kind of, like, you know, when is our turn going to come up? But they should be next, after I get back. And then everyone is just really happy that this finally got put into practice, so...

OSBORN: And, Jody, what's the first thing you're going to do when you see your family in Phoenix?

SGT. 1ST CLASS JODY GUTIERREZ, U.S. ARMY: Give them big hugs, give my husband tons of kisses. That's really about it right now that I know of. Other than that, I'm just going to really relax and take each day as it comes for us. So, I'm just thankful and glad to be back here, and I just can't wait to see my husband in a few hours.

OSBORN: I'm sure he's very glad to see you. Very emotional moments. Thank you very much for your time, Jody and Ron.

There you have it, Bill. A lot of emotions, tears in the hangar, families reunited for 15 days with this R&R policy.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Kris, before we let you go, 15 days may seem like a long time to some, but to others it may not be nearly enough. The trip back, have they talked about that yet?

OSBORN: It's interesting, Bill. Yes, they do. Forces with Coalition Joint Task Force 7 in Baghdad talk about this R&R policy, and one of the things they say is that it's deliberately designed to draw from different units simultaneously, so as not to leave one unit without the personnel that they need. And they will have a daily rotation, so that people are gone at different points in time from all different branches of the service, so that then they can return.

HEMMER: Kris Osborn, thanks, at BWI.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired September 26, 2003 - 07:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The military's next Iraq mission is Operation R&R, rest and recuperation. The first U.S. Army soldiers deployed in Iraq are getting a two-week leave from combat. Some soldiers began arriving in Germany overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so wonderful to be home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's something you're going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a shower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely, wash up and all of that, eight months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel real great, but I have to go back and do my job in four weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does it feel for your husband to be home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's amazing. It's just great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The scene from Germany.

Now the scene at this moment, the emotional scene repeating itself again today in the U.S. troops arriving at Baltimore-Washington Airport.

Kris Osborn is there live this morning for reaction and more.

Kris -- good morning.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, Bill.

Very emotional indeed. Centcom officials tell us once they realized there would be a large number of forces with 12-month-plus deployment orders, they began, sure enough, as you mentioned, this R&R policy. It's 15 days' leave for service members stationed in Iraq on essentially the front lines, deployment duty if you will. Many of them came from different locations in Iraq, picked up by either a C-5 or a C-130 cargo plane, brought then to Kuwait, then take a chartered flight, as you mentioned, to Germany, then right here to BWI, Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

I am standing here now with two very happy recipients of the new R&R policy. We are here with Ron and Jody.

Ron, with the 173rd Airborne Squadron, let me start with you. What's been the reaction to this R&R policy, this 15 days' leave?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when we first heard about it, we didn't think it was really going to come into effect. We heard that they were trying to implement it within the next few days. And I had no prior warning. It was Monday night when my first sergeant came in and said I was leaving at 0530 in the morning. And I just had a few hours to pack my stuff and roll out. And ever since then, it's just kind of been a whirlwind.

The guys back in the unit were pretty jealous. They were kind of, like, you know, when is our turn going to come up? But they should be next, after I get back. And then everyone is just really happy that this finally got put into practice, so...

OSBORN: And, Jody, what's the first thing you're going to do when you see your family in Phoenix?

SGT. 1ST CLASS JODY GUTIERREZ, U.S. ARMY: Give them big hugs, give my husband tons of kisses. That's really about it right now that I know of. Other than that, I'm just going to really relax and take each day as it comes for us. So, I'm just thankful and glad to be back here, and I just can't wait to see my husband in a few hours.

OSBORN: I'm sure he's very glad to see you. Very emotional moments. Thank you very much for your time, Jody and Ron.

There you have it, Bill. A lot of emotions, tears in the hangar, families reunited for 15 days with this R&R policy.

Back to you.

HEMMER: Kris, before we let you go, 15 days may seem like a long time to some, but to others it may not be nearly enough. The trip back, have they talked about that yet?

OSBORN: It's interesting, Bill. Yes, they do. Forces with Coalition Joint Task Force 7 in Baghdad talk about this R&R policy, and one of the things they say is that it's deliberately designed to draw from different units simultaneously, so as not to leave one unit without the personnel that they need. And they will have a daily rotation, so that people are gone at different points in time from all different branches of the service, so that then they can return.

HEMMER: Kris Osborn, thanks, at BWI.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.