CAMP VICTORY, BAGHDAD -- It's late in the evening on Camp Victory, Baghdad, but midday in Albany, Ore. Sitting down at the desk in his room, Lt. Col. Matthew Doggett, the meteorology oceanography officer for United States Forces-Iraq, turns his computer on and talks with his family.
His wife, Sherry, home schools their five children, which makes the late night call the best time for Doggett to speak to his entire family.
Sherry answers and greets her husband with a smile. It isn't long before she is sitting on the stairs surrounded by their kids happily shouting, "Daddy!" "Hi Daddy!" "Daddy, look what I made!"
Doggett's smile widens as his 7-year-old son Caleb holds his latest Lego creation up to the camera and his youngest daughter Bethany, 2, shows him her painted fingernails. Four-year-old Hannah tells him about the picnic they did the night before and his oldest daughters, Katrina, 11 and Kiersten, 14, tell him what classes they have completed.
Since Doggett arrived in late October he has spent one hour every night talking with his family.
It's a scene many deployed parents can relate to.
There are 1.7 million children in the United States who have at least one parent in the military. In recognition of the sacrifices they make April has been designated as the Month of the Military Child.
Recognizing military children and their sacrifices and letting them know they are special is important, especially when service members are fighting for the freedom of another country, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin Martin, coordinator for the United Through Reading Program in the chaplain's office on Camp Victory.
When service members deploy, it impacts the whole family, said Spc. Dominica Hewett, a mental health specialist with the 1908th Combat Stress Control Medical Detachment.
Hewett understands that fact all too well. As a single parent with a 16-year-old daughter, Kdijah, back home in Greensboro, N.C., Hewett is on her second deployment.
To help children adjust to deployment, many service members use technology to bridge the gap and remain a part of their children's lives.
Hewett said the first deployment was difficult for her daughter because she was worried about her mother's safety. It wasn't until Hewett began to call her daughter every day that Kdijah knew her mother was okay that she began to adapt to the separation better. Even though Kdijah is now a few years older, Hewett still calls her every other day.
Often, it is more difficult for those left at home, especially children, than it is for the deployed service member abroad, Doggett said.
For him, being able to communicate with his family via webcam makes it much easier to keep in regular contact with his children than his first deployment in 2005. Back then he talked to his family only two or three times a week using the Morale, Welfare and Recreation phones that had a 15 minute limit.
The constant communication is extremely important and has helped his children stay more connected with him during this deployment.
"Children thrive on the comfort and security that parents can provide," Doggett said. "When things happen that they don't understand and are powerless to control, it can really hamper their learning and behavior."
For Doggett, like many service members, the first month is the hardest for children to adjust to the deployment.
"I wasn't there to tuck them into bed and read them a bedtime story anymore," he continued. "There were a lot of tears shed at the initial absence because I wasn't around every day. It gradually subsided as they got into their routine and I got into mine."
Routines are an important tool to help children cope with military life, especially during deployments.
When deployed parents continue to interact on a regular basis with their children it allows them to see that while things are different, life is still okay and the kids can make it through this, Doggett said.
"The big thing is they're able to see my face and I can still be daddy and joke around with them, and they can realize that I'm still involved in their life," he said.
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2010 01:48 |
| Story ID: | 48377 |
| Location: | CAMP VICTORY, BAGHDAD |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 88 |
This work, Communication is key for military children, by SFC Britney Hiatt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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