Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Burger | Spc. Marcus A. Mitchell and Spc. John Floyd, both Soldiers in Third Army/U.S. Army...... read more read more
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Story and photos by Sgt. Carlos M. Burger II
Third Army/U.S. Army Central Public Affairs Office
ATLANTA – R&R. For Service members who are serving in combat areas around the world, it's one the most important acronyms they'll hear during their deployment.
Known as Rest and Recuperation Leave, it's a time when weary Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines can take a well-deserved break from the stress and difficulties they face in hostile environments and be with friends and family, even if only for a short time.
Sending our fighting men and women home isn't always an easy process, however. Someone has to ensure our service members get home and track them so when their leave ends, they can return to the front lines. Additionally, service members always like to know there's someone to help them if they've lost luggage or missed a flight. Fortunately, there are teams of Soldiers stationed in our airports that are prepared to guide, manage and assist these homebound heroes.
"They are the Personnel Assistance Point teams and their job is to handle the logistics for all service members traveling to and from the deployment zones on R&R leave," said Maj. Patrick Alexander, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport PAP team commander.
The Atlanta PAP team, and their sister-team located in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, works 24-hour operations ensuring that service members coming home from overseas get to their final destinations to start their hard-earned leave. The Atlanta unit is a 12-member team is comprised of Army reservists attached to the Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va., and they track service members who arrive at the airport and processed though the PAP. They also perform various tasks from arranging overnight stays in hotels for Soldiers who can't travel on time to answering questions from units about the whereabouts of their Soldiers, Alexander said.
"We have to know when the Soldiers get here and when they are supposed to be back here," he added.
"The team's job doesn't end there. They also act as airline check-in clerks and baggage handlers. Additionally, they fill the role of customs agents, ensuring service members don't bring illegal items into and out of the combat zones," said Master Sgt. Randall K. Canady, Atlanta PAP non-commissioned officer in charge.
Another task Alexander and his team perform is helping Soldiers from Third Army/U.S. Army Central get on the R&R flights going to Kuwait. James R. Jones, Third Army Special Troops Battalion Deployment Officer, has a working relationship with the PAP team and says their support helps Third Army save time and money.
"The PAP team fills any vacant seats on the R&R flights with Third Army Soldiers and last year the team help save Third Army more than a half million dollars in travel costs," said Jones.
"As a split-based headquarters, Third Army averages more than 90 Soldiers a month traveling back and forth between Atlanta and Kuwait and the PAP team is excellent in answering the rapid needs of Third Army," said Jones.
"They [the PAP team] bend over backwards to help us, even with last minute requests to get troops on aircraft," said Jones.
As one might expect, the care, accountability, coordination and movement of service members from their arrival to departure is more than one team can handle alone. The PAP team communicates daily with various organizations like the Transportation Security Administration, Atlanta Police Department, United Service Organizations, and hotels in the local area, to help care and manage service members in the airport, Alexander said. Through efficiency and professionalism, the PAP team successfully processed more than 36,000 service members during the holiday months, Alexander added.
Although faced with long hours and constant challenges, Alexander is proud of to be a member of the PAP and feels he is making a difference.
"After being deployed myself and seeing both sides of the R&R program, I feel good about what we do here for the service members," he said.
Jones said he is also appreciates the PAP team's work.
"The Personnel Assistance Point team is a bunch of professional Soldiers that take care of troops very well."
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2007 09:09 |
| Story ID: | 10190 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 753 |
| Downloads: | 476 |
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