NYT: For Troops, Home Can Be Too Close(e-mail and cellphone communication)

[DeepModem Mom]

For Troops, Home Can Be Too Close
By IRENE M. WIELAWSKI
Published: March 15, 2005


....Just as television coverage during Vietnam brought shocking images of war into living rooms, so today's communications technology has the potential to immerse already anxious families in the raw experience of combat, while miring soldiers in domestic problems that distract from the mission.

"My wife is having problems with getting yard work taken care of without having to pay out the nose for it," a 29-year-old Army captain complained in a survey about whether deployment had resulted in "marriage issues."

Others reported haggling by e-mail or cellphone over money. The Internet enables soldiers to monitor their bank accounts from Iraq, a mixed blessing in the case of one soldier who discovered that her husband had used up her combat pay on Yankees tickets and a new boat.

Families, too, can become so tethered to cellphones and e-mail that they have difficulty re-establishing normal routines at home, said Dr. D. Bruce Bell, a psychologist and an expert on military families, formerly with the Army Research Institute in Arlington, Va. This contrasts with previous wars when letters arrived infrequently, and separations provided opportunities for spouses to master new skills.

Finally, there is the problem of technology misfires - the Iraq cellphone network crashes or e-mail goes astray. These can bring on spikes of anxiety as family members leap to the worst possible conclusion....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/health/psychology/15fami.html

[Columbia]

1. Pros outweigh the cons

IMO

[Rose Siding]

2. Internet kill switches so officers can "enforce communication blackouts"

snip>
The military is taking steps to control the information flow, in part with Internet kill switches at bases to give senior officers a means to enforce communication blackouts. Military researchers, meanwhile, are scrambling to track the broader impact of instant communication technology. Studies under way include the interpersonal - as in the Murrays' painful collision of household and war zone - and urgent matters of national and military security.

"We are going to learn profound lessons from this war about how to manage these devices to communicate what we really want to convey, and reduce the negative aspects," said Dr. Morten G. Ender, a sociologist at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
....................

Eight or nine wars from now, we should have it about right.

[Columbia]

7. Comm blackouts have been used for centuries

Nothin new there.

[hickman1937]

3. I don't get it.

He's at war, and she's having a hard time getting yard work done. whats wrong with this? Why isn't she taking care of this? Like get off her ass and do the yard work? Your husband calls from a war zone, and this is your topic? WTF?

[politicat]

4. Don't ask...

That may be an extreme example, but I've seen similar issues for years. The military can be a very enabling place, especially for spouses. It can be very easy to not have to be very responsible and to not have to grow up much. A lot of the military wives (there weren't so many husbands back then) I saw growing up just weren't fully adult. My sister sees the same thing with her friends.

Personally, I too, don't understand it, but there it is. I know Mr. Pcat and I are both pretty good at TCoB when the other one is away. Maybe it's the age difference? Lots of military spouses are young - very young at times. We're not exactly cashing our Social Security checks, but we aren't teenagers, either.

Pcat

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Well there is that too

My hubby and I did not have those issues, but we married late in his Navy Career... these days I still manage the finances, to be honest

[Rose Siding]

5. That's why she said "I slipped up"

It's natural to want to be able to talk about with what's happening to you in real time with someone you're close to. He's doing a job; so is she. It got trivial for a moment and she admitted that.

Being in a war zone doesn't necessarily make everything on his end more important all the time anyway, imo. Her life doesn't just stop or become less important than his on the whole, even if it's more commonplace. I'd think some of those little, normal problems might be welcome by someone so far from it all.

[hickman1937]

8. He' s doing a job, so is she?

What part of her job get's her dead? Her job is to keep home and family together while he risks his life. Sorry for the rant.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Trust me yard work at miliatry bases

can be lots of run, if they are active duty

You see you have to maintain a certain "standard" on your yard, or you will be given notices. After a third notice you can be thrown out off military housing.

See how this could become an.... issue.

[shanti]

12. thank you!

i noticed hat immediately too. yard work? good grief, where are their priorities??

[TahitiNut]

6. "Yankees tickets and a new boat"??

She must hate him for his freedoms. :evilgrin:

[Dancing_Dave]

9. F*ck this propaganda!

Now you can see why I don't believe a word the NYT says anymore!







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