The Knoxville News Sentinel March 20, 2005
Technology keeps troops, families closer than ever
So far, yet so near
By Bryan Mitchell
The meeting had just begun as the salads and appetizers were distributed around tables at a West Knoxville restaurant when Jenny Testerman's phone rang.
The more than two-dozen family members of local soldiers serving in Iraq continued with the family support meeting as Testerman scrambled out of her seat and into a quiet booth for a few coveted minutes of talk time with her husband.
Sgt. 1st Class Mike Testerman's Saturday night call from Iraq made his wife's Saturday morning.
"Even if it's only once a week, it's so much better than nothing at all," Jenny Testerman said.
The fortuitous interruption spotlights a trend developing between soldiers in Iraq and their families at home.
The proliferation of cell phones and e-mail in Iraq has translated into a stream of regular correspondence between troops and their loved ones.
In East Tennessee, that includes the thousands of families from the Tennessee Army National Guard's 278th Regimental Combat Team. The 3,200-soldier unit is currently on a yearlong tour patrolling the Diyala province of eastern Iraq.
Additionally, the Army Reserve's 844th Combat Engineer Battalion and the Marine Corps Reserve's 4th Combat Engineer Battalion combined have more than 500 troops in Iraq.
The result of this wartime communications revolution is a nearly unedited flow of information about life in a war zone, oftentimes replete with digital photos.
Military commanders set basic rules over what the troops are forbidden to share over the phone and e-mail, but it's ultimately at the discretion of the individual soldier, airmen, sailor or Marine.
Family members say there have been blackout periods when communications in Iraq were shut down temporarily, but overall they enjoy a nearly unimpeded ability to communicate.
Military expert John Pike, who runs the Virginia-based military research Web site globalsecurity.org, said the Pentagon has largely embraced the new technology.
"Every camp has got an Internet cafe and they've got long-distance call centers at each camp," Pike said. "They generally seem to think this will help with recruitment and retention and with support at home."
Pike said it's unclear how the shift from censored mail from World War II's fronts and patchy long-distance calls from Vietnam to the new instant delivery of e-mails, digital photos and cell phones will affect war and families.
"On the one hand, it lessens the burden of separation for married service members," Pike said. "But on the other hand, the sense of immediacy may be a little frightening. Families may get too close to the front. I don't think we know yet."
One thing is certain, East Tennessee spouses with loved one in Iraq don't dare leave home without their cell phone as was evidenced at the end of the family support group meeting.
As the waiters cleared the tables, family support group leader Dona Asplund rushed outside for clearer reception. The call was from her husband in Iraq, Capt. Brad Asplund.
© Copyright 2005, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
