Once upon a time, far away...

Deployed family members keep storytime alive with United Through Reading video program

Pvt. Zach Zuber

DIYALA, Iraq – Communication between forces in different areas is important in the Army. The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division has an entire company of Soldiers dedicated to keeping proper lines of communication open.

A few of those Soldiers have taken part in a program that starts another line of communication, between those who are deployed and their families at home.

In February, members of the 334th Signal Company, 296th Brigade Support Battalion, started working with the United Through Reading program, which allows Soldiers to send videos of themselves reading stories to their family members.

The videos are a great way to improve the morale of both families and service members who have to deal with the difficulties in communication that worldwide deployments can cause.

“Our goal for taking part in this program was to connect parents to their kids,” said 2nd Lt. Chauncey Henry. “It’s easy for parents to call. But with this, their kids get to see them and make a visual connection.

“If you’re reading a book to them they can read along,” he said.

Providing this extra bit of communication increases the morale of the deployed Soldiers and can help ease their transition when they get back home. For many Soldiers, the program can be the best option for young children to have continued recognition of their parents as they grow.

“For me, being on my third deployment, I don’t get a lot of face time with my son, who is four,” said Sgt. Benjamin Seibert, 334th Signal Company. “With this he can have recognition of who I am.

“I did a night-time thing for him to watch before he goes to bed at night,” Seibert said.

For such a seemingly simple method of communication, there is a lot that goes into producing these videos, as well as implementing the program itself.

“I e-mailed several different organizations, and after training and certification I received the materials to begin the program, including 25 books to start a permanent library,” Henry. said

After the start-up process, things became simpler, especially the preparation of the DVDs for the Soldiers to send home.

“Each video can take anywhere from 30 minutes to three or four hours, depending on the length of the recording,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher W. Miller, the video manager for the program.

“Usually we are able to get the completed DVDs to Soldiers by the next day, for them to send out,” Miller said.

The goal of the program is to make sure that every Soldier on Forward Operating Base Warhorse has the opportunity to provide this unique connection with loved ones back home.

“We think this is a great thing for people with families, and it can really help build better morale,” Miller said.