Kids get hugs from the Sinai
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Sgt. William Walley has been in the Sinai since February and isn't expected to return to Hawai'i until mid-year, so he hasn't heard his unborn child's heartbeat.
U.S. Army
But nine days ago, when he spoke to his wife, Erin Walley, on an Army teleconferencing link, he was able to see how much her belly had grown.
Soldiers deployed to this remote Task Force 1-21 Infantry outpost in the Sinai desert find teleconferencing with their families a boost to morale.
Vicky Rebollozo and her three children, separated from husband and father for the same period of time, were able to see how good Sgt. Gilbert Rebollozo looked after losing 12 pounds.
For his part, Gilbert Rebollozo was able to see his 2-year-old daughter, Crystal, smile and, for the first time, hear her speak full sentences. He also watched 4-year-old Gilbert Jr. describe the toys he wanted for his birthday.
Meghan Close, also 4, was able to see her daddy's version of a long-distance bear hug.
"He went like this," Meghan said, clasping her hands in front of her to form a circle with her arms before flexing her muscles.
"ERRRRRRRR!" she said.
Sgts. Walley and Rebollozo, and Meghan's daddy, Lt. Col. James Close, are deployed to the Sinai as part of a multinational peacekeeping force that has patrolled the desert region between Egypt and Israel since the late 1970s. Along with more than 500 troops from U.S. Army Hawai'i and 25th Infantry Division (Light), the soldiers are part of Task Force 1-21 Infantry, assigned to the 40th desert rotation. It's a six-month stint.
U.S. Army
Because he knew the long deployment would be difficult on the soldiers and their families, Close, the battalion commander, ordered the high-tech, satellite-linked telecommunications equipment be used to keep soldiers and their spouses and children in touch.
Capt. Christopher Rankin, Co. A, 1st Bn., 21st Inf. Rgt. executive officer, speaks to his wife and daughter from the Sinai during a recent video teleconferencing session.
Previously, the equipment was used only for briefings and long-distance training.
Close left Capt. Darren Lore, rear detachment commander, and Sgt. Charvis Phillips, signal support systems specialist, in charge on the Hawai'i end.
Phillips does the technical work. First he seats the family on a couch in front of a 32-inch color television, a microphone the size and shape of a flattened soccer ball and a box of tissues on the coffee table in front of them. Then starts the link to an Army satellite station in Virginia, which — when all goes well — links to a similar system where a deployed loved one waits in a desert classroom.
The video and audio are remarkably clear. Because of the 12,000 miles between them, there is a slight delay, just enough that the spouses are often saying, "I've missed you," without realizing the person on the other end is speaking the same words. They quickly adjust.
Most of the time the link works flawlessly and Phillips is a hero to the wives and husbands who use it.
But some days the link does not work. In those cases, Phillips is left to face spouses who will have to disappoint their children.
"They get really upset," he said, and shuddered. "A lot of mad wives."
