Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Jason Molina, a driver with the 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion...... read more read more
CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq - For many service members, the toughest part about deployment is saying 'goodbye' to family and friends. But thanks to a few intrepid Soldiers with the 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, the Freedom Calls Foundation and Broadwave Corporation, service members here are saying 'hello' to loved ones through telephone and the Internet quickly, easily and for free.
"I couldn't believe it," said Sgt. Jason Molina, the battalion commander's driver with the 264th CSSB. "I just dialed my (home) phone number and seconds later I was talking to my wife. No calling card, no 'all circuits are busy,' no waiting in line for a phone. Just her beautiful voice and then my daughter squeaking, 'daddy, daddy, I love you.' It means everything to me just to get to hear that."
Molina was among the first to enjoy free phone calls here provided by Soldiers who on their free time installed and now maintain communications equipment supplied by the nonprofit organization, Freedom Call Foundation. The new phone and Internet café opened, Oct. 10, in a bunker service members here have converted into a comfortable, functional getaway from work and war.
Deployed service members and their families have been taking advantage of Internet and telephone communication tools for several years now. Freedom Call Foundation is unique in that services and equipment are free to service members thanks to contributions by corporate sponsors and individual donors.
In order to make the calls and Internet possible though, service members on the ground needed to be willing to set up, monitor and maintain the satellite dish, phones and computers. A location was also needed. A handful of Soldiers on this largely Marine base, including Lt. Col. Jason Vick, commander, 1st Lt. Richard Telesco, information management officer and Spc. Jeffrery Sosack, an electronic devices repairer, all with the 264th, stepped up to the plate.
"None of us are satellite engineers so we learned on the job through calls back and forth with Chris Cook from Broadwave, (the corporation that donated the satellite.) My guys spent hours everyday getting this to work," said Telesco.
Getting all the equipment to work was a mix of art and science, said Sosack. Volunteers perched the satellite dish atop a platform and connected all the components but obtained no signal.
"We would angle the satellite one way and got nothing. Then we would move it a little to the left, nothing, a little to the right still no signal. We did this 'dance' with the satellite, but just couldn't get the thing to work. It was so frustrating at times," said Sosack.
"Sometimes we'd say, 'Screw it. Let's try again tomorrow,'" said Telesco.
It was eventually determined part of the equipment was not operational so Soldiers had to wait for a replacement to come in. When it did, they quickly got the satellite up and running.
"When we finally were able to make that first call, we were like, 'alright, we did it!' All of our effort was worth it," said Sosack.
The first call placed was from Sosack to Chris Cook, the director of Broadwave Corporation.
Since that first call, Soldiers and Marines here have been exchanging 'I love yous' with their wives and husbands, hearing their babies' first words and catching up on all the latest gossip from friends back home. The result is improved morale and increased ability for troops to cope with long separations and extensions, said Telesco. Loved ones back home can also call directly to phones in the café by using an 800 number set up by Broadwave Corporation.
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2007 17:17 |
| Story ID: | 13782 |
| Location: | AL TAQADDUM, IQ |
| Web Views: | 275 |
| Downloads: | 225 |
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