Fort Bliss Monitor

30,000 ways to connect to a Soldier

Mark Heeter
Army News Service

WASHINGTON – Every day in cities, towns and rural outposts throughout America and around the world, hundreds of people sit down at their computers to carry out one mission: they head to the “To Our Soldiers” Web site.

“This site represents a viable communication tool for the general public to reach Soldiers while deployed or at their home station assignment,” said Lt. Col. Todd Livick, community relations team chief with the Office, Chief of Public Affairs, Community Relations and Outreach Division.

Passing well wishes securely

The Army.mil Web team first envisioned “To Our Soldiers” a week after the ground war started in Iraq.
“Department of Defense and all the services were getting calls from the public about how individuals could show support for our troops – a Web-based letter writing capability immediately accessible from link on the Army Homepage just made sense,” said Donnie Steele, Army.mil technical director.
Less than a month after the idea started being discussed, it was a reality.

35,000 visit site each month

The site, which has been accepting well wishes for 18 months, receives about 35,000 visitors per month. On Oct.1, the 30,000th message was posted to the Web site, addressed to a Soldier with the 4th Infantry Division.
“Perhaps the best part about the site is that it provides the opportunity to thank today's Soldiers in real-time measurements. It enables the general public to reach out to Soldiers and provides them the capability to voice their opinion,” Livick said.

The Army community relations team posts several dozen messages per day, from supporters in countries from Iceland to Australia, and from Iraq to Afghanistan. In many cases, the screening staff has attempted to connect friends and family members with deployed loved ones, considering the restriction on posting senders’ e-mail and mailing addresses.

Initially, there was some concern about the site being used as a means to lash out at Soldiers or the administration, Steele said. However, there were only about 30 negative messages out of thousands sent the first year, he said, and those were mainly wives venting their frustration at their Soldiers being deployed.
Site online for 18 months

The site went live in April 2003 to meet a demand for ways to support Soldiers, according to an officer who was involved in the inception.
“There were several reason
s we wanted to have this site, but primarily we were overwhelmed with the requests from the hundreds and thousands of calls we received just prior to and after the start of the ground war in Iraq,” said Lt. Col. Dan Williams, who was the community relations chief at the time.
Several months after overseeing the site’s implementation, Williams was able to see and use the site himself, as a deployed Soldier on the receiving end of these messages. He was “pleasantly surprised” at the amount of Internet access when he reached Iraq in December 2003.

Patriotic messages reach beyond cyberspace

“Overall, the tone of the messages being posted have been overwhelmingly supportive of the Soldiers’ role in the Global War on Terrorism,” Livick said.

Some messages have even touched off their own campaigns of patriotism.

Earlier this year, Tammi Ketteman of Ohio, whose son was deployed, wrote a tribute and submitted “A Letter from Mom” to the site. The community relations staff turned the composition over to the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus, whose arrangers set the letter to music and performed a dramatic reading at a concert near Ketteman’s hometown.

Another letter writer has also been invited to a concert on the Field Band’s upcoming concert tour through the southern United States.

“The Soldiers appreciate the notes and words of encouragement. They read them. I will also add that this is not just for Americans. Many times I have read the entry and am delighted to see the sender is from Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and other parts of the world. Overwhelmingly these notes are messages of support, appreciation, and encouragement,” Wil-liams wrote.

Those wishing to express their support for Soldiers deployed around the world are encouraged to log on to www.army.mil/tooursoldiers/ and submit a message.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	October 14, 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	30,000 ways to connect to a Soldier Mark Heeter Army News Service WASHINGTON – Every day in cities, towns and rural outposts throughout America and around the world, hundreds of people sit down at their computers to carry out one mission: they head to the “To Our Soldiers” Web site. “This site represents a viable communication tool for the general public to reach Soldiers while deployed or at their home station assignment,” said Lt. Col. Todd Livick, community relations team chief with the Office, Chief of Public Affairs, Community Relations and Outreach Division. Passing well wishes securely The Army.mil Web team first envisioned “To Our Soldiers” a week after the ground war started in Iraq. “Department of Defense and all the services were getting calls from the public about how individuals could show support for our troops – a Web-based letter writing capability immediately accessible from link on the Army Homepage just made sense,” said Donnie Steele, Army.mil technical director. Less than a month after the idea started being discussed, it was a reality. 35,000 visit site each month The site, which has been accepting well wishes for 18 months, receives about 35,000 visitors per month. On Oct.1, the 30,000th message was posted to the Web site, addressed to a Soldier with the 4th Infantry Division. “Perhaps the best part about the site is that it provides the opportunity to thank today's Soldiers in real-time measurements. It enables the general public to reach out to Soldiers and provides them the capability to voice their opinion,” Livick said. The Army community relations team posts several dozen messages per day, from supporters in countries from Iceland to Australia, and from Iraq to Afghanistan. In many cases, the screening staff has attempted to connect friends and family members with deployed loved ones, considering the restriction on posting senders’ e-mail and mailing addresses. Initially, there was some concern about the site being used as a means to lash out at Soldiers or the administration, Steele said. However, there were only about 30 negative messages out of thousands sent the first year, he said, and those were mainly wives venting their frustration at their Soldiers being deployed. Site online for 18 months The site went live in April 2003 to meet a demand for ways to support Soldiers, according to an officer who was involved in the inception. “There were several reason s we wanted to have this site, but primarily we were overwhelmed with the requests from the hundreds and thousands of calls we received just prior to and after the start of the ground war in Iraq,” said Lt. Col. Dan Williams, who was the community relations chief at the time. Several months after overseeing the site’s implementation, Williams was able to see and use the site himself, as a deployed Soldier on the receiving end of these messages. He was “pleasantly surprised” at the amount of Internet access when he reached Iraq in December 2003. Patriotic messages reach beyond cyberspace “Overall, the tone of the messages being posted have been overwhelmingly supportive of the Soldiers’ role in the Global War on Terrorism,” Livick said. Some messages have even touched off their own campaigns of patriotism. Earlier this year, Tammi Ketteman of Ohio, whose son was deployed, wrote a tribute and submitted “A Letter from Mom” to the site. The community relations staff turned the composition over to the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus, whose arrangers set the letter to music and performed a dramatic reading at a concert near Ketteman’s hometown. Another letter writer has also been invited to a concert on the Field Band’s upcoming concert tour through the southern United States. “The Soldiers appreciate the notes and words of encouragement. They read them. I will also add that this is not just for Americans. Many times I have read the entry and am delighted to see the sender is from Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and other parts of the world. Overwhelmingly these notes are messages of support, appreciation, and encouragement,” Wil-liams wrote. Those wishing to express their support for Soldiers deployed around the world are encouraged to log on to www.army.mil/tooursoldiers/ and submit a message.