Courtesy Photo | Sgt. 1st Class Lemoore Rangel (left), intelligence non-commissioned officer with the...... read more read more
Story by: Capt. David Sigler
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq - Soldiers with the 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and the 28th Combat Surgical Hospital, 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support), organized a United Through Reading Military Program recently at the United Services Organization facility at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq.
The UTRMP helps ease the stress of separation for military families by allowing deployed parents to read children’s books aloud via DVD for their children to watch at home. One of the most difficult things a child can experience is having a parent deployed to a war zone, and this program provides parents a chance to make lasting connections with their children from afar.
The UTRMP, which is available to all deploying military units at select USO locations, has been adopted by the 28th Combat Surgical Hospital and the Unit Ministry Team, and is now available on a limited basis to Soldiers at COB Adder.
Capt. Chris McKenzie, a nurse practitioner with the 28th CSH, and a San Diego native, decided to organize this program at Adder and has been donating his own time and resources to keep the program running. At one point, the program was going to be discontinued due to the CSH running out of children’s books.
Sgt. 1st Class Lemoore Rangel, intelligence non-commissioned officer with the 224th Sust. Bde., and a Long Beach, Calif., native, had participated in the program and became aware of the issues with the lack of books. She put the word out to her friends and family back home, as well as fellow soldiers, to see if books and supplies could be donated in order to keep the program from going away.
Capt. David Sigler, deputy intelligence officer with the 224th Sust. Bde., and a Seal Beach, Calif., native, sent an e-mail home to people who were in a position to help. BB&T Insurance Company answered the call.
“I saw firsthand the positive impact of the United Through Reading program while in Kuwait,” said Sigler. “I had seen soldiers using the program and they had nothing but good things to say about it. Since I do not have children myself, I did not have a need to participate directly. Upon our arrival at COB Adder, Sgt. 1st Class Rangel put out a request for soldiers to ask family and friends back home to donate their children’s books to the Adder program because it was in jeopardy of shutting down due to lack of resources. I then e-mailed my friends and family for support, which resulted in about 150 books being donated.”
Through a month-long children’s book drive, BB&T Insurance collected more than 150 children’s books and sent them to Sigler and Rangel to keep the program growing. Rangel contacted the United States Forces-Iraq USO coordinator and was able to obtain a video camera, tripod, dozens of DVDs and mailing supplies to further assist the program. McKenzie is in the process of converting an unused hearing booth to a reading room so that Soldiers can read books to their children without distraction and noise.
| Date Taken: | 10.21.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.31.2010 09:35 |
| Story ID: | 59172 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 17 |
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