It was a mission that called for timing, discipline and a sweet tooth. The Army was ready.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week, about 10,000 young soldiers from three forts boarded buses. The buses rolled toward their target. The riders looked toward Atlanta, where the world’s busiest airport waited for them, possibly the world’s happiest travelers.
From sunrise until moonset, soldiers from Forts Benning, Gordon and Jackson got off buses and formed lines at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. They got smiles and candy canes from volunteers working for the United Service Organizations Inc. Awaiting home-bound flights for the holidays, they slept in recliners, watched TV and ate sweets like someone who’d lost 20 pounds in three months. They “yes-m’am’d” and “yes-sir’d” everything with two legs.
And they all listened to the roar of jets, thinking of home — the treeless hills of north Texas, the windy plains of Wyoming, the neat streets of Palmetto (that’s Palmetto, Ga.).
"I have thought about home," said Pvt. Mark Schneidereit, 22, speaking in the twangy drawl that tells the world he's from Booker, Texas. Wednesday morning he killed time, awaiting an afternoon flight to Amarillo. "Yes sir, I have thought about home a lot."
Thousands more shared his thoughts. Military officials called Wednesday and Thursday’s happy evacuation of troops the largest peacetime movement of soldiers in the country.
Mary Lou Austin is a veteran of these deployments. She’s CEO of USO Georgia, and for decades has been helping new warriors find their home-bound flights. This week, she commanded USO operations from the organization’s airport office, making sure volunteers were in place, goodies were laid out.
A lot of the new soldiers, she said, passed by USO airport volunteers months earlier when they headed out for basic training. “When they come back, they say, ‘Do you remember me, m’am?”
Yes, private, Austin always does.
“That’s what the USO is about,” she said. “We have a tradition of service.”
Hartsfield-Jackson was just one airport handling troops, said Gayle Fishel, the national USO’s director of media relations. The organization, founded in 1941 to support American service members at home and overseas, operates 45 airport offices across the world.
“We’re like the 7-Eleven for (military) travel,” she said. “We offer it all.”
It has people like Shelly Regina, a Wells Fargo employee and USO volunteer. She watched soldiers get off an escalator, their tan combat boots echoing softly on the terrazzo floor. The new soldiers were bald as baseballs; stalking them were drill sergeants, tough as baseball bats.
“I want them to know we appreciate them,” said Regina, who coordinated volunteer activities for scores of Wells Fargo employees. “We appreciate their sacrifices their families make, too.”
The USO makes a service person’s life easier, said Lt. Col. Michael Birmingham, the Army’s liaison with the USO and airport in moving the troops through Hartsfield-Jackson. A 20-year veteran, Birmingham has visited USOs from Atlanta to Baghdad.
“They’ve all had volunteers,” he said, “and a friendly face.”
They have plenty of sweet rolls, too. Pvt. Luke Syvanen of Cheyenne, Wyo., took a big bite from one and nodded his approval. He’s 18, looking for a girlfriend and some adventure.
“They’re treating me great, sir,” said Syvanen, awaiting a flight to Denver at a military lounge on the airport’s B concourse. “This is, like, wonder land, compared to basic training.”
Adventure also awaits Pvt. Austin MacDougall of Victor, Wash. Wednesday morning, MacDougall watched “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” on a USO TV and mentally checked off the hours until he left for Spokane, Wash. When he gets home, MacDougall, 22, is going to marry his girl, Samantha Johnson. She’s 20, the daughter of a Navy man. It will be a civil ceremony, with a formal bash this summer.
“I’m planning on having the best time of my life, sir,” he said.
Pvt. Reginald Levy also had big plans. He nursed a cup of coffee at the USO lounge and waited for his cousin, an airport employee, to get off work. They’d make the quick ride to Palmetto, where Levy’s unsuspecting mama would get a happy surprise when her son walked through the door. The very thought made Levy smile.
So does Army life, which he’s experienced for six weeks. “Basic (training) has been fun, sir,” said Levy, 24.
Fun? OK, right. Levy said he’s enjoyed the exercise, the early mornings, the miles of running.
“I don’t count the miles, sir,” he said. “I just run.”
He’ll be running again in a couple of weeks. All these soldiers who left Atlanta will be back a few days after Jan. 1, boarding buses for a return to base. The Army — the USO, too — will be ready.
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