For one soldier, home for the all-too-short holidays

Army officer returns from Korea to spend holidays in Warwick with parents before heading to Iraq, By Roger Gavan WARWICK - First Lt. Robert Barnett managed to spend Christmas at home with his parents, Warwick residents Robert and Margaret Barnett, and his brother John, before beginning his one-year tour in Iraq. Barnett, who received his undergraduate degree and his Army commission at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., in 2006, had just returned from his first overseas tour in South Korea. “I was there for a year,” said Barnett, a field artillery officer. “We spent most of our time training. The South Korean Army does the actual patrolling of the border between North and South Korea.” Barnett, a graduate of Warwick Valley High School and an Eagle Scout with Warwick’s Troop 45, always admired his first cousin, Major Thomas Michael Feltey of Kearny, N.J. That was part of the reason he began to consider a military career. While still in high school, Barnett spent some vacation time with his cousin at an American military installation in Germany where he was stationed. When it came time to apply for college, he choose Virginia Tech for its vigorous and highly regarded Army ROTC program. Virginia Tech is one of the United States’ six senior military colleges and one of two such programs at a predominantly civilian university. Since his high school days, Barnett has become something of a world traveler. “Beats me,” smiled his father. “He’s already visited seven different countries and 40 states.” As an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, Barnett qualified for a special program offering a tour of military installations in Israel. And during his recent tour of duty at Camp Casey in South Korea he spent leave time visiting Japan and China. “I wanted to take the opportunity while I was stationed in that part of the world to see things first hand, like the Great Wall of China,” he said. “It was spectacular.” Right after Christmas, Barnett bid farewell to his family once more and headed off to Fort Hood, Texas, where he will receive a short period of additional training before his deployment to Iraq. When he arrives in Iraq, Lt. Barnett will be greeted by an old friend and cousin Michael Feltey.