</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000" size="3">I'm on the fence on this topic. The BDE CO has put out that
every member that is deployed to Kuwait must attend an off post MWR trip to
Kuwait City. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get that its supposed to
boost morale, but to me personally, I didn’t deploy to Kuwait to go see their
malls or aquarium. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I deployed to do a
mission, when I complete my mission I will go home to my family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we were authorized mid-tour leave then by
all means I would take advantage of that to be with my family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure if past deployments affect my reasoning
on this topic of MWR trips, but we are here to do a job, not stroll around the
country where we are deployed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
stroll around when I get home to my family and try to get back into everyday
life. </font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the question being presented is,
should MWR trips be mandatory to attend (all money spent out of the Soldiers pocket)
or should the MWR Trips<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be optional to
Soldiers if they wanted to go? Also since this is Mandatory, should the money come
out of the BDE funds to pay for their tickets, meals etc…?</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">
</font>
Kuwait City is pretty cool to see. Being that you pay out of pocket, I don't think it should be mandatory. I got the chance to go out in town quite a bit. I enjoyed it. TGIFriday's is good. Maki Japanese Resturant at Marina Waves is awesome. Best Japanese food I have ever eaten.
To answer your question, NO. MWR trips should not be mandatory. If a commander wants to do a mandatory trip, that is more like a staff ride and should be funded by the unit. You cannot force a Soldier to expend funds, but if there is no cost involved, then you could require attendance.
Having answered the question, I believe everyone should take a trip off post at least once to experience the culture another country has to offer. You can take your own lunch to help defray costs, but be adventuresome and try the local cuisine.
You only get one life, make the most of it! Live with no regrets and try to stay positive about the experience.

Deployment
MWR
Kuwait
