During our first deployment, when Cliff was in Iraq, the idea of bringing a cell phone to a war zone seemed crazy. Not to mention extremely expensive. So we shut his phone off before he left and depended on the fact that he’d have access to MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) centers as he traveled around the country to access computers. Because he was working with Special Forces, he was limited in his communications as it was – no photos or video, and phone and emails were monitored. Instant messaging was often the closest thing we had to a live personal conversation and we went almost the entire deployment before I got to see his face on a video screen, and that was after they made it back to California to demobilize. I consoled myself by remembering it wasn’t that long ago that my mother-in-law could go 7 or 8 months when my father-in-law was out to sea on a Navy ship and not hear anything.

But with time has come a lot of progress. And just over 3 years later, after that first deployment, we’ve continued to see technology explode in ways I’m sure my MIL and her friends never imagined we’d get to when they waved goodbye to their husbands from a Navy pier.

This second deployment my husband is currently on is much different than his first when it comes to communication. He’s serving in South America with a group of Seabees, doing humanitarian relief work in 8 different countries over the next 10 months. They’re building and renovating schools, and sharing supplies and expertise with their military counterparts in those countries. They’re currently living on a small civilian ship that is serving as both their home and transport and figuring out communication has been interesting… they have wireless internet but it cuts out frequently and because of their constant moving around and the fact that the ship they’re on is self-sustaining (meaning they don’t have regular shipments brought to the ship), mail is not an option. This time we sent Cliff off with his cell phone because 1) we knew he wouldn’t be in a war zone and 2) we had no idea how communication would be so we added international service to his phone. The service is only $5 more a month, but it still costs extra for every text and minute we talk. We’ve been trying to take advantage of the internet but got a little cell phone careless and got a little blown away by a very high cell phone bill this month. Whoops!

So, as a refresher for me , and hopefully as a help to you, I thought I’d review some of the ways you can stay connected to your service member when they’re away… and feel free to chime in with your own methods and what works for you!

Skype – (skype.com) It’s amazing to think that just less than 4 years ago, I and a lot of people I know had not heard of this wonderful tool, and yet it now seems indespensable for military families around the world. Even if bandwidth where your service member is doesn’t allow video, you can still at least instant message for free, provided you have  an internet connection. And I highly recommend if you’re preparing for a deployment that your service member carries a laptop and that both of you have web cams so if you do have the opportunity to do video, you can. If you have kids, it’s a great way to help them stay visually connected to their parent who’s away and doesn’t make them seem so far removed.

Take advantage of DSN lines if you can: This isn’t always possible (it isn’t for my husband this go round) but if your service member is near an established base with DSN lines, he or she can call a base near you (for example, last deployment, Cliff would call the DSN line to the National Guard armory in Nashville) and then the operator connects him to you. Calls like this usually have to be brief but it can be pretty helpful.

Instant Messenger Services - Yahoo, MSN and others offer both text and video messaging. If you’ve got Internet, you can connect.

Smart Phone Apps - what my husband just discovered (after receiving the news of our latest cell phone bill) was an awesome free phone app we’re going to start using which allows you to share voice mail messages with each other for FREE as long as you have a wireless connection!

Both of us have iPhones and we just started using this new app,  HeyTell (also available for Android). It’s an easy way to “talk” to each other without paying for the air time. Think of it as an answering service or if you’re both on at the same time, a walkie-talkie. All you have to have is a wi-fi connection. What I like about it is it saves each message so I can go back and hear my honey any time I want. So far this may be the best solution for us.

Another app we’ve heard about and downloaded on our phones though I haven’t felt like I’ve had much success with it is eBuddy which allows a mobile way to instant message using the social media services you already use like Facebook, Twitter, or Google Mail.

So those are just a few of the low-cost ways I’m trying to use to stay connected with my husband while he’s away. I would LOVE to hear what you’re doing or what you’ve done with past deployments! What’s your best way to communicate with your husband? Do you have any smart phone apps you’re using? Share your best tips!

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