posted by LoveMyTanker @ 7:37 PM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 9:34 PM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 7:44 AM
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Snail mail going to people deployed to Afghanistan could flow a little quicker starting next month.
The U.S. Army is spending $500,000 to launch HooahMail, a service starting Dec. 1 in which family and friends can send letters electronically to anyone serving in Afghanistan, Bill Hilsher, the Army’s postal program manager, said.
Participants can register immediately online to have some personal letters delivered in as little as 24 hours — a far cry from the roughly 14 days it now can take, Hilsher said. And it’s free.
Here’s how it works: Family and friends set up an account via HooahMail and enter the recipient’s information and downrange mailing address. With the push of the “send” button, encrypted letters are sent to the servers of designated machines in one of 10 locations in Afghanistan. At least once a day, Army postal clerks switch on the machines, which print, fold and seal the letters in addressed envelopes for delivery through the in-country military postal system.
“At no time while the postal soldier is downloading the message can the message be read,” ensuring privacy, Hilsher said. Writers can also send one photograph, which will be printed in black and white.
The machines, at 220-pounds, can be airdropped to any site. They will be placed at Bagram and Kandahar air fields, and the remote outposts of Forward Operating Bases Najil, Mace, Zio Haq, Carwile, Sweeney and Bushmaster. Two more will be placed at bases yet to be determined.
Apart from the main hubs of Bagram and Kandahar, Army officials selected the bases where troops were “having the most difficulty getting traditional mail, or FOBS that don’t have Internet cafes or only one or two Internet connections … used for missions only,” Hilsher said.
The system could reduce delivery time in some cases from two weeks to same- or next-day service, with an average of four days to all other locations in Afghanistan, said Lt. Col. Charles Moose, spokesman for U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
The Army’s HooahMail follows a similar program, called Moto Mail (short for Motivational Mail), which the U.S. Marine Corps started in 2004 for its servicemembers deployed to Iraq.
Hilsher couldn’t say why it’s taken the Army so long to follow suit, other than to say that the Army’s program has been in the planning stages for two years.
“The Army is much larger with a lot more troops,” Hilsher said. “We’re coming onboard with it now.”
There are no plans to introduce the service for Army troops in Iraq.
HooahMail is a one-way service from family and friends to soldiers, Moose said. Troops in Afghanistan won’t be able to use the system to send letters home.
posted by LoveMyTanker @ 12:11 AM
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It's hard to predict how a child will react to having a parent deployed in a war zone, the Marine Corps’ family advocacy manager said here today on the last day of the 2009 Department of Defense Child Development Conference.
“I’m constantly getting … people asking, ‘So, how do children react to war?’” Keita Franklin said. “It’s such a loaded question, because what we know is the development is really at the core of all that and … pre-existing vulnerabilities sort of feed into how they react to war.
“So, I just always say, ‘they’re just very individualized,’” she said, adding that some do very well. “What I will tell you is that the normal sort of childhood trials and tribulations of parenting are all cranked up a notch.”
Children with a parent, or two, deployed can become increasingly clingy or whiny, cry more, exhibit aggressive behavior, and have a greater fear of separation, she said.
But, as Franklin pointed out, war affects every child differently, and a child’s reaction to one deployment will not necessarily be the same reaction he or she has to subsequent deployments.
Researchers have been able to isolate a correlation between repeat deployments and family stressors, as well as with behavioral problems in children, she said. “All of this becomes a ‘feedback loop.’”
A child has behavioral problems, she explained, and then another parental deployment causes a higher level of stress, and then the behavioral problems can increase. “So, you can see how the cycle continues,” Franklin said.
In addition, a parent’s behavior can influence a child’s reaction through what Franklin called “transgenerational transmission of trauma” -- children being raised by parents who have been exposed to severe situations of trauma and adopt some of those symptoms themselves.
There’s little research on this idea, Franklin said, but some comparisons can be made by looking at the effects of depression on children since traumatic stress and depression often present similar symptoms. And just as the absence of a parent can affect a child, she noted, so can the parent’s return, especially if the returning parent is exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Some of those symptoms include irritability, hypervigilance, avoidance or emotional numbness. Early intervention is the key to helping the servicemember cope with those feelings as well as keeping those feelings from affecting children in the family, Franklin said, possibly averting “a full-blown diagnostic issue.”
While Franklin’s discussion included children of all ages, she read a letter from the son of a Vietnam veteran who was just a toddler when his father returned with signs of what is now called post-traumatic stress. His father was always angry and emotionally detached from the family.
“I share that with you because he says he was a toddler, and toddlers are the age group you are often dealing with,” Franklin told the conferees. “Even though this person was a toddler, he’s now an adult child reflecting on that experience. So, PTSD does have something to do with the mental health needs of children.”
No one understands this in quite the same way as those with the Zero to Three organization.
With the mission of promoting the health and development of infants and toddlers, Zero to Three doesn’t interact directly with parents, but rather provides training and guidance to those who do. For military children, the group’s focus is resilience, said Colleen Legasse of Zero to Three’s military projects department.
“We know that young children feel the spectrum of emotions that adults do [and] that older children do,” she said.
She told the conferees that certain changes are normal during a deployment. Some children’s eating and sleeping habits change, or they express anger toward the deployed parent. They may even refuse to come to the phone or computer to say hello to the deployed parent, Legasse said.
And much as it is for older children, homecomings aren’t always as smooth as the parent or caregiver at home hopes they’ll be.
“I think it’s important to think of homecomings as very stressful as well,” Legasse said.
Depending on the age of the child and the length of the deployment, young military children may have never met their returning parent before. Some may have been so young when the parent deployed that they don’t remember them. And if a parent returns injured, temporarily or permanently, it can be traumatic for a young child who remembers Mom or Dad a certain way.
Caregivers can help to ease their young charges’ stress by helping them build secure attachments, helping them maintain a schedule and to understand what’s happening in an age-appropriate manner, and helping them gauge their reactions to stressful events.
Zero to Three offers resources for caregivers of military children on its Web site.
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 8:25 AM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 6:37 AM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 9:29 AM
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A troop plane is due to land at Bangor International Airport in Maine and Bill Knight is pacing the airport hallway like an expectant father. When the soldiers finally file off the aircraft and onto U.S. soil for the first time in months, the stooped octogenarian is the first to greet them back from war.
“Welcome home. Welcome home, sergeant,” he says, shaking each of their hands as they shuffle by. “Welcome home.”
It’s a passing moment for many soldiers, on their way to more emotional reunions with spouses, kids and parents, but it will stick with viewers of “The Way We Get By,” a moving documentary about Knight and other volunteers with the Maine Troop Greeters that is screening in select cities this fall and on PBS on Veterans Day.
Since 2003, the greeters have hailed and farewelled hundreds of thousands of service members going to and from Iraq and Afghanistan. Against the backdrop of this constant stream of camo, the filmmakers profile three of the most dedicated: Knight, 86; Jerry Mundy, 73; and Joan Gaudet, 75.
Like its subjects, the documentary spends a lot of time with tired troops in airport hallways and lounges. Jerry cracks jokes as he hands out cell phones: “Call someone up, make them happy, ugly or horny.” Bill, a World War II veteran, shares stories about his service in Europe during the war. Joan dispenses hugs like the grandmother she is. And after each flight, they update a white board with the tally of service members welcomed.
These are the kind of scenes that can tug heartstrings with one hand tied behind their back, and they do. But the film’s real power comes when it leaves the airport and follows Bill, Joan and Jerry into the loneliness, tedium and worries of old age.
As they struggle with sick and aching bodies, the fear of being forgotten, the deaths and departures of family and friends, the movie illuminates how much this white-haired trio identifies with the men and women in uniform they greet — and the meaning this service gives their lives.
“What am I going to do when I don’t have this?” wonders Joan. “I’d be lost.”
“My life don’t mean a lot to me,” Bill says, “but if I can make it mean something to someone else — that’s my endeavor.”
posted by LoveMyTanker @ 8:26 AM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 9:37 AM
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 7:42 AM
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A flood of support is hitting the Army’s social media sites in the wake of the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.
“My prayers go out to the family and friends of the fallen heroes. It’s time we remember to pray for all our soldiers regardless of where they are,” one person wrote on the Army’s Facebook page.
Another posted: “As a soldier, it’s like losing part of your family. I love the U.S. Army and this will be resolved. Pray for the wounded and killed. I thank them for their service, hooah.”
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posted by LoveMyTanker @ 10:33 AM
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The chairman of the Joint Chiefs said both he and his wife fully support the new Congressional Military Family Caucus, a group formed to work on child care, education, health and deployment issues.
Adm. Mike Mullen was the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s inaugural meeting of the caucus — which has 70 members and growing — formed by members of the House of Representatives to identify and try to resolve issues affecting military families.
Mullen said he and his wife, Deborah, will do everything they can for the cause.
“We are extremely grateful for your starting the caucus,” he said. “This is a big deal.”
Mullen endorsed the list of issues gaining attention from the caucus, saying it matches the feedback he has received from his wife and from meeting with military family members around the world. He urged the caucus to also listen to families.
“I don’t know much about families issues because I am not the one staying home,” he said.
“Military members think they know, but they don’t know, by and large.”
One thing he has learned, he said, is that family needs are great, and stretch far beyond domestic military bases where most family support programs exist. He spoke of the problems facing the widows of U.S. service members based in Italy who have died in Afghanistan, and of employment problems for spouses in Japan and Korea.
“For us, the reach of [family issues] has become so much more expansive,” he said.
The Military Family Caucus is one of many member associations in the House of Representatives in which lawmakers combine efforts on shared issues.
Other such military-related congressional groups include the Air Force Caucus, Army Caucus, Naval Mine Warfare Caucus, Missile Defense Caucus, Military Veterans Caucus, National Guard and Reserve Components Caucus, Shipbuilding Caucus, Unexploded Ordnance Caucus and Victory in Iraq Caucus.
Another military caucus on the way: the Long Range Strike Caucus, which is being formed to support strategic bombers, cruise missile, ballistic missile and nuclear weapons issues.
Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Wash., one of the founders and co-chairs of the Military Family Caucus, said she expects this one to be a bit different because the issues are personal for many lawmakers, especially those who either have firsthand experience with the difficulties of being in a military family, or have many military constituents who need help.
McMorris-Rodgers spent 26 years as the wife of a naval aviator; her husband is now retired. The wife of the other caucus co-chair, Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., D-Ga., grew up in a military family.
The caucus plans to hold a series of briefings for its members through the rest of the year that could lead to a formal legislative agenda that will be pushed as part of the 2011 defense budget that Congress will take up next year.
posted by LoveMyTanker @ 8:10 AM
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The holidays are fast approaching, and they can be a fun family time as children away at college come home, and other students get their holiday break. It’s also a time for students and parents to apply for the 2010 Scholarships for Military Children Program that opens in November.
Scholarship applications will be available Nov. 3 in commissaries worldwide and online through a link at https://www.commissaries.com and directly at http://www.militaryscholar.org. Since the program began in 2000, it has awarded $7.3 million in scholarships to almost 5,000 children of service members.
The Nov. 3 scholarship kickoff coincides with National Military Family Month, and is an example of commissaries supporting their local communities by helping to improve the quality of life for military families, said Defense Commissary Agency Director and CEO Philip E. Sakowitz Jr.
“Being part of something that makes higher education more affordable for military families is thrilling, as we feel it makes a better future possible for their children,” he said. “The program awards $1,500 scholarships to well-rounded, accomplished service members’ children, enabling these families to save some on their children’s tuition.”Only dependent, unmarried children, younger than age 21 (age 23 if enrolled as a full- time student at a college or university) of active duty personnel, Reserve, Guard and retired military members, survivors of service members who died while on active duty, or survivors of individuals who died while receiving retired pay from the military may apply for a scholarship. Eligibility is determined using DEERS, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System database.
Applicants should ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in the DEERS database and have a current ID card. The applicant must be planning to attend, or already be attending, an accredited college or university full time in the fall of 2010, or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program. Applicants should prepare to submit an essay on the following topic: “You can travel back in time; however, you cannot change events. What point in history would you visit and why?” Applications must be turned in to a commissary by close of business Feb. 17. At least one scholarship will be awarded at every commissary location with qualified applicants.
The scholarships program is administered by Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to service members and their families. Scholarship Managers, a national, nonprofit, scholarship management services organization, manages and awards the scholarships. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers and the general public donate money to the program, and every dollar donated goes directly to funding the scholarships.
posted by LoveMyTanker @ 12:32 AM
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I am.....A thirty-something active duty army wife. A mother and teacher. A southern born girl. I love sports! An independent conservative - sometimes I talk (or bash on) politics. You are not required to like my opinions or politics. I am a strong woman. I am not a feminist. Be sure to check out the sidebar for the most updated information.
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