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Serving Those Who Serve

Approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population has been fighting a war for the last decade while the remainder of the country sees battle only through a screen. But people back in the states eagerly are demonstrating their support for those in uniform. Rallies, ribbons and letter-writing campaigns have become norms across the country, and some people are taking the help even further. From ensuring contact with home to sending comfort items to the frontlines, organizations large and small are proving that, at least in spirit, U.S. warfighters do not stand alone.

This is one of several articles published in our Veterans Focus. To see all articles from the series, please visit www.afcea.org/signal/veteran.asp.

 

The USO supports troops around the world in many ways, including through care packages, entertainment and opportunities to contact home. That support includes helping those wounded in battle. Here, Spc. Justin Lara, USA, at the USO Warrior Center at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, competes against NFL players and fellow service members from Dubai, Japan and Kuwait in a game of Call of Duty: World at War.

Support for troops takes many forms, each designed to show gratitude for all they do.

Approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population has been fighting a war for the last decade while the remainder of the country sees battle only through a screen. But people back in the states eagerly are demonstrating their support for those in uniform. Rallies, ribbons and letter-writing campaigns have become norms across the country, and some people are taking the help even further. From ensuring contact with home to sending comfort items to the frontlines, organizations large and small are proving that, at least in spirit, U.S. warfighters do not stand alone.

One of the best known and widest reaching of these groups is the USO. Although most Americans are familiar with USO tours, many, including the troops themselves, might be surprised by all the organization offers. In place since the last century, the USO not only has expanded its services, but it also is adjusting to the changing nature of war. “As the USO heads into our eighth decade, we continue to build on the wide array of programs and services to support our active duty military and their families,” Steven Missimer, the vice president of programs for the organization, says. “We maintain a global network of support that runs 24/7/365, and we strive to ensure that whenever and wherever our troops are, they have as much access to home as possible.” To remain relevant, each year the USO surveys thousands of troops and their families around the world so it can continue to provide best-in-class service.

The organization has a variety of efforts in place to meet the wide-ranging needs of the military, many focused on giving troops a chance for some fun and relaxation in the midst of stressful situations. The Mobile Entertainment Gaming System, or MEGS, for example, is a fully self-contained, highly portable, durable multimedia platform. Missimer explains that users can set it up quickly and begin watching DVDs or playing video games.

A more recognized offering of the charity is its USO Centers. Missimer says these centers and their activities have evolved to reflect what troops and their families want and need. “Our centers abroad provide tastes of home from softball games and cookouts to birthday celebrations,” he states. “Centers on military installations afford service members an opportunity to connect by computer or phone at no charge.”

To continue this support to war-fighters in locations without centers, the organization has created improvised equivalents dubbed USO2GO. “Troops stationed in remote locations can use USO2GO to create their own makeshift USO Center,” Missimer explains. “From chicken noodle soup to the latest video game, USO2GO kits transform a remote base into a place where troops can organize a pick-up football game, relax in beanbag chairs, swap stories and lift spirits.”

Operation Phone Home ensures that all service members, even those who cannot access a center, have a chance to reach out to their loved ones. Over the years, this effort has provided millions of prepaid phone cards to deployed troops. The cards are loaded with enough minutes for a conversation, not simply a quick hello and goodbye.

One way the organization ships the calling cards is through its Operation USO Care Package. Since 2003, millions of boxes have been delivered, packed with the cards as well as snacks, travel-size toiletries and other everyday items. Missimer says they bring a touch of home to military members serving around the world.

In addition to the cards, the USO has a satellite-based phone network at its centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. When troops come in, they can use the network and contact home for free. In 2010, troops averaged 200,000 of these calls. Advancements in technology have helped the USO reduce costs over the years as well as improve its value and service, which Missimer says is best demonstrated through the satellite-phone network in Operation Phone Home. The average per-minute cost for a call to the United States is 50 cents from Kuwait and 70 cents from Iraq and Afghanistan. “The cost per minute on our satellite-based phone system is 5 cents per minute,” he says. “As you can see, through technology, we’ve been able to realize 10 times the savings using the satellite-based phone system. This system has improved our connectivity and afforded us the opportunity to help even more deployed troops stay in touch with their families back home. The USO is always looking for ways to use technology to reduce cost and increase reliability and value.”

 

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan display their care packages—and some tools of their trade—after receiving the boxes from Operation Gratitude earlier this year. The nonprofit organization aims to show individual service members that they are remembered, valued and supported.

To continue providing connectivity and excellent service to the troops, Missimer says the organization relies on the continued support of technology partners. “We welcome the opportunity to form new partnerships in order to extend our reach and provide the most to those who sacrifice so much for our freedom,” he adds.

All these efforts, and more, enable the public to show its appreciation to the military through donations or volunteerism. “The USO provides Americans a way to say ‘thank you’ to troops for their service and sacrifice in defending our freedom,” Missimer explains. “We support our nation’s heroes in every arena, from our centers and programs stateside to providing support for our troops on the frontlines. We also support our nation’s wounded, ill and injured through our wounded warrior and caregiver programs.”

USO personnel encourage the military to take advantage of the programs and to ask for assistance. To learn more or participate in a program or service, service members and their families can visit the organization’s website or make inquiries at their local USO Center. Missimer also invites the military community to contact the programs department for information. “For our service members, know that the USO is here to support you and your family at home and abroad,” he says.

Other groups eager to show the military appreciation also are using technology to do so. Cell Phones for Soldiers provides calling cards for deployed service members, funding the minutes by recycling cell phones. Unlike the USO, which is large and experienced, this organization began in 2004 when Brittany and Robbie Bergquist, ages 13 and 12, saw a soldier on TV who had an $8,000 phone bill for calling home from a war zone. The kids gathered all the money they had—totaling around $20—to donate. To earn more, they began hosting car washes and bake sales, but finally hit on collecting old cell phones and sending them overseas with prepaid minutes.

Unfortunately, those phones pose a risk to soldiers because of their ability to detonate improvised explosive devices or reveal locations, and the Pentagon asked the Bergquists to stop. Now, they use the money from recycling to send phone cards so troops have the opportunity to call home for free safely. “We have been lucky enough that we’ve brought in enough through recycling and donations that we’ve never had to turn away a request for calling cards,” Brittany Bergquist says.

Requests come in through different channels. Usually troops or family members reach out, but other times a unit officer or chaplain calls in requesting cards for groups of troops. To ensure they reach people who need them, Cell Phones for Soldiers usually sends them to APO or FPO addresses. The exceptions are when they send them to the hospital for wounded servicemen and women, or when families need them to stay in touch with service members training long term at U.S. locations far from home.

Occasionally the Bergquists deliver the cards in person. “[We had the] honor to be able to go to Walter Reed and Bethesda [medical centers] and meet with some of the young guys,” Bergquist says. She explains it was difficult to see the wounded service members who were “only a couple of years older than Robbie and me and in such dire situations. But they were happy and excited and looking forward to the future.”

Military community members can request cards through the organization’s website. If they are unable to do that, Bergquist says they can email or “just truly reach out any way that they can, and we will get a calling card to them.” Anyone who would like to help fund the calling cards can donate cell phones or make a monetary donation. The organization is partnered with AT&T, and because most of the calling cards are purchased in bulk through the company, Cell Phones for Soldiers receives a significant discount. AT&T also collects phones and makes donations.

Continuing the organization has been challenging at times as the siblings balance school with running the charity. During their younger years, “we got picked on a little bit for what we did,” Bergquist says. But emails they receive have kept their motivation strong. “We heard from one guy who was deployed,” she explains. “He said that our calling cards gave him a little bit of heaven in the middle of a war.” They also heard from a dad who was able to call home for his son’s birthday and a daughter who was able to call her father before surgery. Another gentleman used the cards to call into counseling sessions each week. “He said it saved his marriage,” Bergquist states. “It makes it all worth it.”

The passion that started the organization has not abated over the years. “It means so much to me that we have these troops...these men and women are our heroes. They’re absolutely incredible,” Bergquist says.

 

Soldiers overseas show off their shipment of calling cards from Cell Phones for Soldiers. The organization recycles cell phones to raise funds and purchase calling cards to send to deployed service members so they can call home free of charge.

Though technology has helped make huge strides in military support, some old-fashioned methods are still bringing smiles. Care packages are a popular way for the public to show troops they are appreciated and to offer them some comfort. Operation Gratitude assembles and ships approximately 100,000 packages a year, providing opportunities for Americans across the country to donate time and resources.

Each package is personally addressed to an individual, which Carolyn Blashek, the organization’s founder, says has several benefits. “The recipient feels special; he or she is not just a number but an honored individual,” she explains, adding that, “Receiving their own package in their own name lets them know they are not alone in the world.” Other benefits include the ability to establish ongoing correspondence with the writers of letters included in the boxes and ensuring no one in a unit feels unloved or left out because everyone receives a personal package.

Operation Gratitude also supports families through its Battalion Buddy program that provides stuffed animals to the children of deploying service members.

RESOURCES

USO
www.uso.org
(888) 484-3876

Cell Phones for Soldiers
www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com
cellphonesforsoldiers@yahoo.com
(800) 426-1031

Operation Gratitude
www.operationgratitude.com
Request a Package: opgrat@aol.com
Request a Battalion Buddy: battalionbuddy@gmail.com
(262) 674-7281