Holiday Block Leave (HBL) Instructions Family, friends, and loved ones of the Soldiers of B/2-58 IN, You should have or will be receiving a phone call from your Soldier very soon. This phone call is very important as your son is going through the decision process on what mode of transportation he will be using for his Holiday Block Leave. For information on dates please see the letter titled “Holiday Block Leave” that was recently posted on this Facebook page. For the safety of all Soldiers currently in training here, we will NOT be posting the exact times of departure or the process of leaving or returning on Facebook. Below is the information you will need to know in order to assist your Soldier in deciding what he wants to do. The 3 options for your Soldier’s travel are listed below. 1. PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLE (POV). Your Service member is authorized to be picked up here at Fort Benning by his family members. While on Block Leave, he is not authorized to personally drive or operate any motorized vehicle himself but you may pick him up and drive him home. Please understand, it is still up to your Soldier to be back here by the time he is required. This could be troublesome if you live in Northern states due to possible weather issues, so please plan ahead and ensure he has a back-up plan as well. 2. GREYHOUND BUS. Your Solider can choose to take a Greyhound bus; this is the cheapest long distance option. The great thing about this is no ticket will cost him more than $261.50, no matter where he is travelling to because that is the limit imposed on the travel service. He can travel anywhere in the continental U.S. via Greyhound bus. Soldiers must purchase these tickets here at Fort Benning so please DO NOT purchase your Soldier a Greyhound Bus Ticket as he will be afforded the opportunity to take care of that himself here. 3. AIRPLANE. This is the fastest mode of travel but also can be the most expensive. If your Soldier wants to take an airplane home, please read the following very carefully. There are several more options specific to purchasing plane tickets that you should be aware of. a. OPTION 1: Somebody purchases the flight for your Soldier. If the ticket is purchased by family or friends, the ticket must depart from Atlanta International Airport and CANNOT depart earlier than December 19th, 2014 at 0700 (7:00 AM). The ticket must have the Soldier arriving back to Atlanta Airport no later than January 3, 2015 at 1800 (6:00 pm). Itineraries must be purchased and emailed to [email protected] prior to December 4th, 2014. b. OPTION 2: Your Soldier will have the opportunity to purchase a ticket online if he chooses. This is the least recommended option due to the Soldier not having ample time to search for the best deal. The departure and return times must coincide with requirements listed above in Option 1. c. OPTION 3: Your Soldier will have the opportunity to purchase tickets here at the Company by authorized travel agencies that will give the Soldier every possible deal they can find. For Soldiers that have not been here long enough to have gotten paid, the Army will give them a certain amount of advanced pay to allow them to purchase a flight. In some cases (such as international flights) this may not be enough to purchase a ticket. The Soldier will then need to decide to either take leave somewhere else or stay here. Yes, advanced pay will be repaid by deduction from subsequent pay. Soldiers also have the opportunity to not take Leave and can stay here at Fort Benning. The Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Center has a lot of activities scheduled for Soldiers that do not take leave so they will not be bored. If you have any questions regarding Holiday Block Leave, please do not hesitate to contact Bravo Company at (706) 544-8149 or send an email to [email protected]. Thank you and enjoy the holidays with your Soldiers and Family. Be safe with all travels. - The Command Team of Bravo Company 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 23:12:02 +0000
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