500 Weary Soldiers Get First Real Taste of R&R; : Military: They enjoy hamburgers by poolside and other diversions as Saudi government drops opposition to plan.

About 500 desert-weary American soldiers Sunday stripped off gritty fatigues, basked in the sun by poolside and tasted their first hamburgers since leaving home after the government here quietly dropped its opposition to a U.S. plan to provide them rest and relaxation in a deluxe Saudi compound.

A vanguard detachment from the 82nd Airborne Division found water-skiing, bowling, unlimited supplies of free ice cream and, for female soldiers, the chance to wear “American-size bathing suits” in a day of the good life. A senior military official described it as recreation “without restriction.”

“There will even be American music we can blast,” said an exultant Maj. Gen. William G. Pagonis, the top U.S. logistics commander here, in an interview Sunday. “It’s in the middle of nowhere.”

However, with alcohol still strictly off-limits, with the respite limited to just 12 hours, and in light of predictions that it could be two months before each soldier gets a turn, officials acknowledged that the facility does not entirely solve a long-term need to provide more unfettered leave.

But the opening of the compound nevertheless represents significant progress in a theater in which, until Sunday, combat soldiers had no place to fully retreat from the rigors of the front line--in large part because of Saudi legal and cultural strictures.

The Saudi approval for the mixed-sex facility represents an anomaly in a nation where women are banned even from the pools of deluxe hotels. And in voicing enthusiasm about the facility, U.S. military officials expressed some concern about a possible conservative backlash.

“I don’t need Saudi religious leaders thinking that someone has sold them out and given us this facility,” one senior commander said. While no dress code will be enforced, he said, only “conservative” bathing suits will be available for sale.

Citing such sensitivities, military officials refused to permit reporters to visit the compound. The officials said that they are also concerned that extensive attention might jeopardize the facility’s security.

But commanders who visited the compound as the first contingent of troops arrived there by bus early Sunday morning said that the soldiers were “totally excited.”

The soldiers, from the 82nd Airborne Division, were among the first U.S. troops to arrive in Saudi Arabia. They have for the most part been living in hot tents and eating unappetizing rations known as “meals ready to eat.”

In providing access to the facility, commanders said, priority is to be given to the 82nd and to other front-line troops whose living conditions are the worst. At a rate of 500 a day, officials said, it could be as long as two months before all combat soldiers get their day at the facility.

The massive compound, built by a South Korean contractor and normally open to the Saudi public, offers an outdoor swimming pool, water skiing, sailing and tennis, and indoor bowling, soccer, basketball and a full-size cinema.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in the United States,” Pagonis said.

Under American supervision, the facility will also offer a post office, chaplains, a medical clinic and what the general described as “unlimited American-style food.”

“The troops want hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken,” Pagonis said, “and I’m looking for pizza.” But in keeping with Saudi law, he added: “There will be no alcoholic beverages, period.”

There are no overnight facilities at the compound, and visits are to be limited to a single day. Nevertheless, Pagonis said, “This is going to immediately let the troops know they’re being taken care of.”