Easter message from the front

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Morgan J. O'Brien III
  • Combined Forces Air Component Command Office of Public Affairs
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (AFPN) --  In April 1944, the parents of Army Cpl. Morgan J. O'Brien had no idea where their son was. They knew he was somewhere in North Africa fighting the forces of Nazi Germany, but they had no idea of his exact whereabouts or how he was doing. Because of the war and security-driven censorship, O'Brien's overseas wartime service allowed only a very little, sporadic contact with home.

A lot changes in 60 years.

That Army corporal -- my grandfather -- would be shocked by the changes the U.S. military continues to make to improve communication between troops deployed overseas and their loved ones back home. As a second lieutenant on my first deployment, my parents don't worry about my well being or where I am. They know I'm at a desert air base on the Arabian Peninsula and I'm doing well. We send e-mail back and forth each day, talk on the phone twice a week, send letters and packages and use a videophone so we can see each other as we speak.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, technology shaped the scope of modern warfare by dominating the battlefield, but it also paved the way to make considerable changes in improving troop morale.

E-mail, a valuable tool for the military to share files across oceans and assign tasks to expeditionary units remains a practical, inexpensive way to give people a needed "lift." During Operation Iraqi Freedom, one forward operating base processed 5.2 million e-mails during the first three and a half weeks, both personal and mission-related.

Personal e-mail is encouraged and can average about one million messages per week, according to Master Sgt. Jimmy Jay, network control chief with the 363rd Communications Squadron. During operations against the Iraqi regime, commercial phone service was restricted to mission-essential calls only - what the military calls a "communications minimize." During the first weeks of the operations, e-mail was the only way troops could stay in touch with home. During those few weeks, Jay said e-mail traffic doubled.

Troops were also encouraged to make short transcontinental morale phone calls on a limited basis. For the buildup surrounding OIF, 51 new phone lines were added at one desert base specifically to improve access for people making those morale calls to loved ones back home. Service members could call either their home station or a base close to their relatives and have the base operators patch the call through the local commercial system to their loved ones.

During the buildup to OIF, troops made 10.5 million calls each month for official and personal business, prompting base officials to put a communications minimize restriction on the base, to ensure official calls could go through. As military action slowed, the restriction was lifted, and military people are allotted two, 15-minute morale calls per week.

The daily mail call remains another favorite for deployed troops and offers friends and families the opportunity to send their loved ones everything from baked goods to pictures from home. As U.S. troops poured into the region, postal workers at bases in the region saw the mail workload increase greatly. Postal operators at one base alone processed 800,000 pounds of mail during the first three and a half weeks of OIF -- a 300 percent increase from the base's normal traffic.

Unlike the days of World War II, families and friends in the U.S. have to factor in cultural differences and host-nation sensitivities when sending packages. Gone are the days of pictures of "pin-up girls" for G.I.s to hang in their barracks. At some bases on the Arabian Peninsula, photos of people that show exposed skin from the neck to the knees is often a major no-no, making many magazines, videos and DVDs unacceptable in these countries.

"When people mail things here, customs runs a 100 percent random inspection. That means everything and anything coming in can be inspected," said Master Sgt. Jeffrey Robinson, 363rd Communications Squadron. Robinson says customs' reserved right to review often creates a backlog of personal mail. Questionable material is subject to seizure and further inspection by customs agents. Each week, U.S. postal officials work to return $25,000 worth of merchandise per week to affected deployed military and civilian workers at the base.

Technological advances unavailable 12 years ago during Operation Desert Storm turned into more opportunities for troops to connect with family and friends. Video teleconferencing technology similar to that which allowed President Bush at the White House to talk to his commanders in Baghdad on Wednesday allows loved ones to communicate across the globe.

Videophones are a very popular technique people use to stay in touch, said Airman Tiana Coleman, a front desk clerk at the base Learning Resource Center. The phones, available at places like family support centers at many military installations, allow friends and family to see and speak with deployed service members during the 30-minute videophone call. This technology is cost effective, because the video signal travels over normal phone lines and, "it's a real boost to morale," said Coleman.

My great grandparents did eventually find the whereabouts of my grandfather. When they opened the Sunday paper on the morning of Easter 1944, they saw a picture of soldiers attending Mass. In the front row was their son.

My parents, however, won't need to wait for the morning paper to know about my Easter. I told them all about it when I called home that night.