Airmen keep servicemembers, families connected

Published June 9, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Connor
386th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- More than 24,000 Airmen are deployed throughout Afghanistan, Iraq, the Persian Gulf Region and the Horn of Africa areas of operation and near the top of most Airmen's lists is staying connected with their loved ones back home.

At one Southwest Asia air base, a group of 17 Airmen from the 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer, Communications and Force Support Squadrons teamed up recently to improve an already robust morale center called the "Oasis."

"We offer a facility that gives our [Airmen] a place to stay in touch with their family and friends, and take care of their personal business," said Staff Sgt. Rosita Castro, 386th EFSS deployed from Anderson AFB, Guam.

Prior to the upgrades, Sergeant Castro said the facility afforded Airmen around the clock access to defense switch network phone lines that Airmen can make two 15-minute calls per week. The Oasis also offers Airmen the use of computers connected to the Internet for up to 30 minutes on a first-come, first-served basis. The morale center rounds out it services providing commercial phone lines and a wide variety of movies Airmen can sign out.

"I arrived here in April and this is the first time I've deployed since my 17-month-old son was born," said Staff Sgt. Brian DeRosa, a C-17 Globemaster III loadmaster with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron deployed from Travis AFB, Calif. "Being able to check my e-mail or make a call home several times a day provides a lot of piece of mind knowing my family is doing OK, so I can focus on the mission."

Since the combined team of Airmen from the cable shop, small computers, tech control, heavy equipment operators, electricians, and Oasis staff members sprung into action, the morale center now affords Airmen even more opportunities to stay in touch.

"The new capability allows users at this air base to access commercial Internet for free at the Oasis and allows users to access sites and stream videos that are not available on the military network computers," said 1st Lt. Dennis Adezas, 586th Air Expeditionary Group chief of communications and information division. "Another capability that it gives users is the ability to chat over several instant messaging programs. We even added several Webcams, which allow members to chat and see their loved ones over the Internet and have provided voice over Internet protocol phones to allow Airmen to contact family members for only .04 cents per minute on calls to the U.S., which is cheaper than buying a phone card."

To make a project like this a success, it takes a lot of muscle to lay the foundation and move everything into position.

"The heavy equipment operators scraped off the gravel and brought in dirt to level the ground for the satellite dish and brought in additional concrete barriers to secure the area for pedestrians," said Capt. Melanie Wallace, 386th ECES project manager deployed from the Salt Lake City Air National Guard, Utah. "They also dressed up the site with gravel after the cables were buried. The electricians installed a power drop and outlet for the new computers and local area network cabinet. They also checked all of the outlets that were unused to insure a smooth installation."

Whether an Airman is deployed for four, six or 12 or more months, being able to reach back to their families and friends is what keeps them grounded and the morale as high as it can be as they continue the fight against global terrorism.

"There's a close tie between the mission and morale here and this project made a big difference to the Airmen here," said Tech. Sgt. Clyde Pence, 386th ECS small computers shop deployed from Langley Air Force Base, Va. "It's a great feeling to be able to put Airmen and their families together. When the morale is high, it goes hand-in-hand with the success of the mission."