<p>Cheers and applause erupt as Capt. Corinne McClellan reaches the top of the giant escalator that leads out into the main concourse of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.</p><p>A pair of red-aproned USO volunteers, who led the applause with other people waiting to pick up arriving air passengers, walk up to McClellan and give her and other soldiers hugs before helping them find their way to the airport's USO lounge or their next destination.</p><p>"It's pretty cool. It's the last farewell before we get on a plane," said McClellan, 28, a member of the 181st Transportation Battalion based in Gloucester, Va., who was in Atlanta on a stopover before her deployment to Iraq.</p><p>Providing the last goodbye to deploying troops and the first hello to those returning from combat zones is all part of Operation R&R, an effort at the Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth airports by local branches of the United Service Organization, the 65-year-old nonprofit group famous for its star-studded shows that entertain U.S. troops abroad.</p><p>"We want to support the troops," said Mary Louise Austin, president of USO of Georgia, whose husband is an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. "It's the morale they need, to know that when they're far away from home in a strange land that the American people are behind them."</p><p>While the USO operates lounges for active-duty troops at 28 U.S. airports, the Operation R&R program takes that hospitality a step further for troops fighting abroad with volunteers giving out care packages and gifts, greetings and send-offs, smiles and encouraging words at two of the busiest airports for troop transports.</p><p>At the Atlanta airport, USO volunteers man a welcome booth most days and lead the applause for arriving troops. They gather troops who are ready to check-in for their departing flights overseas and march them through the airport's main atrium before cheering crowds. At Dallas, volunteers are allowed behind the security gates to salute troops as they board their flights.</p><p>"People want to show their support for the men and women serving in a combat situation," Austin said.</p><p>The volunteer-run Operation R&R was started at the Atlanta airport in November 2003, shortly after the Pentagon approved rest-and-relaxation leave for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program was expanded to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport six months later.</p><p>Under the program, the Georgia USO has provided hospitality to 438,000 troops while USO Dallas/Fort Worth has helped 250,000 troops. The program operates off of donations from the public and corporations.</p><p>"Traveling for anybody can be, especially in this climate we're in, annoying and frustrating and overwhelming. Many service members come in from small towns where one (airport) terminal is all they have _ they arrive in Dallas-Fort Worth and there's five terminals," said Rhenda White-Brunner, director of USO Dallas/Fort Worth.</p><p>"At a time when they are contemplating returning to combat, if we can take away that anxiety of 'My bags are lost' or 'I'm late', we're taking that off of them as they prepare to go do what they have to do," White-Brunner said.</p><p>The USO groups give troops departing overseas a care package that includes a durable toiletry kit, a phone card with up to 500 minutes and other items, such as granola bars, candy or gum, and magazines.</p><p>Troops also are given stuffed animals. USO of Georgia has spent more than $70,000 for 27,000 special "USO Hero bears," Beanie Baby bears dressed in service uniforms.</p><p>Software developer Claudia Ludlow, 51, of Alpharetta, Ga., volunteers for six hours each month for the USO as a troop greeter.</p><p>"You can tell the ones who have been there _ they are all sunburned," Ludlow said, referring to those who have been to Iraq.</p><p>She said the troops are always glad to see the USO volunteers.</p><p>"They really like it, especially when they have come from war," said Ludlow, who works for defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.</p><p>The troops also are directed to the USO lounge, where they can get a bite to eat, watch some TV, check e-mail or even take a quick nap. (McClellan said she used the Atlanta USO lounge for the latter option.) The lounges typically provide meals every day and serve special holiday dinners, such as turkey on Thanksgiving or barbecue on the Fourth of July. Operation R&R makes sure that troops soon to be returning to combat get priority in the lounges.</p><p>Both airport USO groups receive many letters and e-mails from service members and their families. Jennifer Brewer of Fort Drum, N.Y., wrote to thank the USO of Georgia for taking care of her husband, Dana, before he went overseas.</p><p>"He was so thankful for the toiletries, phone card, food, e-mail access and shower but mostly he enjoyed the friendly faces," she wrote in a letter.</p><p>The airport USO officials say they will continue the greeting programs as long as soldiers continue to fight abroad and return home.</p><p>"It makes me feel great doing my part," said Army Spc. Aaron Brown, 21, of the Brewer, Maine-based 172nd Infantry Regiment of the Maine Army National Guard, after being greeted by Ludlow and other USO volunteers. "These guys support us."</p><p>____</p><p>On The Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdf7c4)</p><p>HASH(0x1cdf86c)</p>
