A Deployed Christmas

From USA Today:
"In Afghanistan, a hard holiday season for U.S. troops"

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ARIAN, Ghazni province, Afghanistan — Here in the cold, Taliban-infested areas of eastern Afghanistan, 1st Sgt. Alan Robison is missing Christmas with his wife and children for the fourth time because of his deployments. "I'm really big on Christmas, so when I'm home my family really goes all out with the tree and lights on the house," he says. "When I'm not there, they don't do as much decorating." He and his men manage to muster some holiday cheer despite the distance from home. In between patrols in this hotbed of Taliban activity, he and his fellow troops decorated a tree.  This year is the 12th holiday season that U.S. servicemembers are in Afghanistan, and it is the time of year that troops can miss their families the most. But Christmas in Afghanistan is in some ways better for troops than it was in previous wars. The big difference is contact with loved ones. In World War I, there were not direct telephone communications between Europe and America, and paper and ink were rare commodities in the trenches. Commercial radio in the USA was taken over by the government. Independent news from the European front came from newspapers, which could be censored.  In World War II and Korea, the military made a serious effort to get troops packages and letters during holidays. But the mail could take weeks to catch up to fast-moving troops whose locations were often a mystery even to generals who relied on spotter planes in good weather and radio transmissions to keep track of units. Vietnam, a war that utilized more permanent bases, made use of reel-to-reel tapes sent through the mail so soldiers could hear messages from home on recorders. Overseas phone service was available by then but so expensive that it was made available only for emergencies. None of this compares with the communications available to troops today. Deregulation of the telecommunications industry and the advent of the Internet has been followed by an explosion in communication methods.  Many troops have access to laptop computers or mobile devices like smartphones linked to Internet-based satellite communications, and can communicate instantly back home even while hunkered down in villages that have yet to get indoor plumbing.  Still, troops here say the ability to use Internet services like Skype, where they see their families as they talk to them, is not always the greatest thing in the world.  The holidays are a particularly trying time for soldiers with spouses and children back home, says Capt. Ray Davidson, the chaplain at Arian. He says he has spoken to a number of soldiers about their longing to be home this time of year. "When we're here, we try to put the family aside and not dwell on being away from them," Davidson says. "And then Christmas comes." Davidson says he hopes to bolster soldiers' spirits come Christmas Day by traveling to all the nearby bases to conduct Christmas Mass and hand out presents sent from military supporters back home. Christmas during the Afghanistan War is also different from other wars in that there is a lot less fighting here in winter to keep your mind occupied on your job rather than on what you are missing back home. Here, the fighting typically slows down because many Pakistani Taliban return home and do not return until the spring. "When the cold weather arrives, the mission slows down and there's more time on your hands, more time to think about being here instead of home," Davidson says. However, there is still fighting here and the 66,000 troops still in Afghanistan do battle with a persistent enemy: maintaining their focus. Cheering troops with entertainment has always been part of the Christmas calendar in war zones overseas.  The USO averages about 80 entertainment tours a year, which includes both combat zones and bases in Europe, the Pacific and elsewhere. About 300,000 troops see the entertainers over the course of a year. It is difficult to fly entertainers around Afghanistan so the shows are generally smaller, says John Pray, USO chief of staff. During World War II, military installations were more developed and they could have larger shows. They now do a lot of "handshake tours," where various celebrities meet with troops, and have fewer large variety shows. It differs from the past. In World War II there was more of a shared experience in entertainment.  For example, everyone knew who Bob Hope was and his appeal was widespread among the military. He was among 7,000 performers who played the USO "foxhole circuit" during World War II, far more than the number of performers who visit today's troops.  Yet the spectrum of entertainment offerings that exist today varies widely as do the entertainment tastes among troops. The USO sponsors a number of entertainers overseas, including sports figures, reality-television stars, celebrity chefs and other big names. A USO "Holiday Tour" this month included Washington Capitals' Matt Hendricks, Washington Nationals pitchers Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen, country music singer Kellie Pickler and comedian and host of CBS' Excused Iliza Shlesinger. Many Americans don't think much at this season about the thousands of troops spending Christmas fighting for their country. Charities and communities are doing a lot as they have in past wars to cheer up troops with gifts, cards and visits. But this war is different in that it comes at a time when fewer Americans have a personal connection to the military.
A 2011 study by the Pew Research Center found that a smaller share of Americans serve in the U.S. military than at any time since the peace-time era between World Wars I and II. "During the past decade ... just one-half of 1% of American adults has served on active duty at any given time," it said. "The connections between military personnel and the broader civilian population appear to be growing more distant."

 ^ I have dealt with having someone deployed for Christmas for too many years now. I try to do my best to make sure that they (and other soldiers) know how much we appreciate their sacfrifice. I also send Christmas cards to soldiers I don't know  - I would send packages, but that's not allowed. I also make sure to send cards and packages to my family who are deployed - not to mention e-mails, IMs and e-cards. I try to get others (those that don't have a personal connection to a deployed soldier) involved as well - mostly by Facebook. I also believe that government officials (whether, President, members of Congress, etc) regardless of what country they are from should take the time to spend Christmas with the troops they station in warzones and overseas. It is all the little things that most people (including me at times) take fot granted that soldiers away from family and friends on Christmas miss the most. There are many ways regular people can show their appreciation to the soldiers. The simplest is sending a Christmas/holiday card. TV stations used to broadcast messages from soldiers overseas to their loved ones in the US, but I haven't seen that is years. In this season of giving people need to remember that soldiers and their families are giving up (their lives, their families, etc) so that the majority of people only have to worry about what present to buy.  ^

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/23/christmas-afghanistan-troops/1770209/