Deployment–How Do You Keep in Touch?
Posted by Chaplain Campbell. Filed in Uncategorized |
How do you keep in touch with loved ones during deployments? Let me know!
Chaplain Campbell
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How do you keep in touch with loved ones during deployments? Let me know!
Chaplain Campbell
Wednesday, November 11th 2009 at 3:21 am
When my husband was deployed, we kept in contact by yahoo messenger, email, and phone. I had yahoo messenger logged in on my phone at all times. That way if i wasnt at home we would still be able to chat. We also got to chat quite a bit on skype. I also mailed letters and cards, as well as care packages. I tried to keep a steady stream of emails written on a daily basis giving updates on home, kids, family, etc. He seemed to enjoy the updates :). We made it thru a 15 mth deployment with no issues, and are still going strong!
Thursday, November 12th 2009 at 10:38 am
Sounds like you have used technology to your benefit. Good on ‘ya! Thanks for sharing.
Chaplain Campbell
Sunday, November 29th 2009 at 11:39 am
We are fortunate with technology available at my location. I left my husband, 15, 12, 5, and 2 1/2 year old children at home. I can call DSN through my home station morale line. My dad lives near an Army post, so I could call him through their DSN line as well. We Skype including video (when it works—sometimes we resort to just the IM portion in lieu of video). I even paid $3/month to be able to call unlimited lan lines/cell phones via Skype. That way if my family was out and about we could still chat at any time…well worth the investment. I have teenagers, so one bit of wisdom I picked up from my Wing commander was meet them where they are. I would go through AIM (AOL Instant Messager) to IM them instead of calling. Teens love to text and may tell you more via text than they would over the phone or through Skype video cam. Plus it makes them feel like they have a private conversation with mom. I would take turns calling the kids instead of home. Often I would then follow-up with a home call to chat with the others. We also sent letters, post-cards, care packages, and of course emails.
One bit of advice, install programs before you leave home. Deployed connections, band width etc is often much slower. It helped that I had AIM and Skype already installed. My friends struggled getting past this obstacle. Heck, even try it out before you deploy. I went to the patio and “practiced” with my teen who was in the house!!!
Best of luck to all deployed members and their families. Family support and well-being definitely makes for a smoother deployment!