Keeping families informed during operation enduring freedom

Army Communicator, Spring, 2003 by David Stern

As a member of 164th Corps Support Group of Mesa, Ariz., I was activated and ordered to Karshi-Khanabad Airbase in Uzbekistan from June to December 2002. Serving as the group Signal officer, I was tasked to develop a way to assist the family-readiness group in keeping families informed.

I arranged for an Internet website, azarmyfamily.com, to be donated, plus electronic-newsletter software from SISCORP, so we had a website and electronic newsletter to distribute information, stories, promotion photos, contests and other items of interest to families and friends. Marilyn Ward, mother of a soldier, best described the bottom line upfront for this project when she said, "I loved the newsletter. It made me feel I was still in touch with my son, even if only to a degree."

Introducing the web address

Before the unit left the Reserve Center, the unit's FRG held a deployment briefing for families, where the website's domain name was announced and a signup sheet was passed around for the email addresses of all those present. From that point, newsletters and website information were passed via family members, FRG volunteers and the other family-related support channels. The newsletter started with about 100 email addresses, but the group's distribution list ended the deployment with 321.

Publishing the newsletter and updating the webpage

As one of the group commander's priorities, the website was updated three times a week, and the electronic newsletter was sent to everyone on the distribution list once a week. The newsletter software had the ability to send a simple text email or a webpage, with most subscribers choosing the webpage version.

The website and newsletters contained links to FRG volunteers' email addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of the chaplain staff, information about TriCare and other issues affecting family members. Newsletters also contained information to subscribe more family members to the distribution list and to send comments or suggestions for the newsletter and website.

One of the newsletter's nice features was the ability to include families in the training the group was receiving. For example, at the mobilization station, the group conducted Force Protection Level One training. The same training was available to the public through the Internet, so we placed a link on the webpage and newsletter to allow family members to participate in the same training we were receiving.

Also, for the unit's redeployment we digitized a set of reunion videos and made them available on the website for family and friends.

Managing email addresses and newsletters

With the donated website and electronic-newsletter tools, updating the website or sending quick updates to families could be accomplished from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. This allowed volunteers in the United States to assist with the website (in addition to volunteers within the unit). The software had some nice features, including capability to import addresses from virtually any spreadsheet, notification of email addresses that were returned with the reason why (for example, mailbox was full), as well as general statistics and the ability to send Hypertext Markup Language emails.

Lessons learned: information security

As the project proceeded, the group's S-2 section was intimately involved with developing and editing pages for the website. As the website was hosted on a commercial system, soldiers, family members and FRG volunteers could publish pages and updates. To ensure no inadvertent disclosures were made in the website or newsletters, the S-2 staff viewed all pages, photos and text for classification before they were made public. What this brought to the fight was the ability to edit items of concern or leave them entirely out. The S-2 also brought us into compliance with appropriate guidelines by instructing removal of the unit name and other identifying features of the unit/personnel.

Putting down rumors

During 164th Corps Support Group's mobilization process, the national media began to report news of suspected chemical contamination at K2 Airbase. As this was the base the group was to assume command and control of, this posed a significant issue for the soldiers, friends and family of unit members.

The newsletter and website gave the group commander the ability to distribute a list of questions and answers as well as detailed information to 164th Corps Support Group's friends and family. The notable aspect of this was that families received information within 24 hours of it becoming national news. The result: the unit went on training to complete the mobilization process, unaffected by the national media.

Comments from families

No project is complete without an after-action review; these are comments from a few family members.

"You kept me informed as much as you could on the many days I couldn't actually hear Mark's voice," said Michelle Paone. "The pictures were great, the thoughts were great, the whole thing was great."