| Troop r and r budget wont cover costs Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/paying_for_r_rhttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/paying_for_r_r
White House - AP Cabinet & State Troop R&R Budget So Far Won't Cover Costs Wed Dec 3,10:12 PM ET Add White House - AP Cabinet & State to My Yahoo!
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) has told congressional researchers that it will cost far more than the $55 million previously suggested to help troops get home on leave from Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), officials said Wednesday. Until now, the largest R&R program since the Vietnam War has flown soldiers free only to three cities in the United States and one in Germany, leaving them to pay airfare for any connecting flights the rest of the way home.
Defense Department officials said Tuesday that they were working on a plan to reimburse troops for the connecting flights, noting that Congress had appropriated $55 million.
Congress recommended the reimbursement for "travel costs" - implying not only airfares, but taxis, hotels and other costs - when it passed the $87 billion emergency appropriation for the Iraq and Afghan military campaigns and Iraqi reconstruction.
Though the language was not binding, the Pentagon said it intended to cover airfare for connecting flights and was not sure if it could also cover other travel costs.
The Pentagon told the Congressional Research Service late last month that it expected to spend $344 million getting troops as the states and Germany, according to a service memo released by Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md.
David F. Burrelli, the defense specialist who wrote the memo, said defense officials told him getting troops all the way to their front doors would double that cost. He said he took it as a loose estimate, but that it was clear $55 million is not enough.
Ruppersberger urged Americans to donate to Operation Hero Miles, a program he has set up to pool frequent flier miles for use by service members.
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On the Net: www.heromiles.org.
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