Service Members in Iraq Send Back-to-School Care Packages to Their Children at Home Through the USO

By Heather Huggins

August and September are a busy time for families, as summer comes to a close and parents must help prepare their kids for the new school year. There are last minute outings, new bedtimes and supplies to buy. For military families, many are trying to accomplish all of this while their partners or parents are deployed overseas.

At Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, the USO team is trying to bridge that gap. This year, the USO team took one of the USO’s most popular programs, the USO Reading Program, and found a unique way to enhance it, helping service members connect with and support their loved ones back home during such a pivotal time.

The USO Reading Program

The USO Reading Program remains one of the USO’s most popular programs for military communities overseas – and especially for deployed service members. Typically, through this program, service members first record themselves on-camera reading a book to their child back home. This is usually done in a small nook or designated room that their local USO Center has set up. In this room, aside from shelves of books to choose from, service members also have a colorful backdrop to read in front of while recording themselves; some Centers even have props and stuffed animals nearby to help them in their storytelling.

Once service members have finished their recording, the USO then has that recording and a copy of the book sent home to a son, daughter, sibling or any other child in their life, ensuring that their service member is home for bedtime.

For military families with children, this program can have an immensely positive impact. It can be difficult to have a parent be away for nine months (or more) during such a formative time in their young lives. However, through this program, military parents can connect with their children back home, allowing them to be a part of their children’s lives, even while thousands of miles away.

How the USO Al Asad Center Got Creative with the USO Reading Program

This back-to-school season, the USO team in Iraq got creative with how service members could utilize the USO Reading Program to connect with loved ones back home.

USO Al Asad collected commonly requested-school supplies and back-to-school themed books so that service members could create “reverse care packages” for their little one heading off to school. Normally, it is the deployed service member who receives a care package from their family or from the USO, but instead they reversed that tradition with care packages to their children.

One service member, Command Sgt. Maj. David Fisher, was the first to hear about the program. After getting his soldiers to sign up, he quickly scheduled his own reading session.

David came to the USO Center expecting a generic set-up and the typical USO Reading Program line-up. He was surprised to find a wide selection of back-to-school specific themed books. He ended up selecting “Just Go to Bed” by Mercer Mayer; it was the perfect book to help his son, Theodore, get rid of those nighttime jitters before his big first day as a first grader.

After David finished reading, he was able to hand-pick school supplies in his son’s favorite colors - knowing Theodore would be excited to see them. He packed them with care, took the time to decorate the box and sent his son words of encouragement to lift him up on his first day of school. David may not have been able to be there in person, but he explained that he was grateful to the USO for helping him find a way to be part of the big day.

On Theodore’s first day of school, he proudly packed his backpack with all the love his father was able to send to him from so far away. He was especially excited about the photo keychain that was in the back-to-school care package, which had photos of him and his dad. It was a special token he could carry around with him all day that helped him bring his dad with him on that first day.

Other soldiers participated in the program and had great experiences. Another soldier, CW2 Daniel Payne took the USO up on the opportunity to make his kids feel special and connected despite the distance between them. He explained that he loved that he could record himself reading a book so that his kids could then read the book or listen to the recording any time they wanted to feel closer to him. This connection is what drove Daniel to participate in the back-to-school event hosted at USO Al Asad.

Daniel has two kids going to school this year. Jackson is jumping into third grade and Weston is going to school for the first time as a kindergartener. Not being able to see your kids off for their first day of school is tough, so Daniel jumped at the opportunity when he found a way to connect with them while deployed in the heart of Iraq. Finding a USO when he landed here in the first place was comforting, but he is especially grateful for how USO staff and volunteers have helped him stay connected to family.

“It seemed like the right program at the right time. The back-to-school reading program helped to alleviate some of the stress about a new school year for them and they can always go back and read the book or listen to the recording when they want to,” he said

“This program simply works. I am always looking for ways to connect with my kids and being so far away makes it difficult. Any program that makes the kids feel special and connects me with them is a winner in my book.”

All in all, over 20 families participated in USO Al Asad’s back-to-school care package and reading event throughout the month of August. Over 30 individual military children were surprised with a package of their own in the mail. Not just any package, but one from their mom or dad over 7,000 miles away, wishing them a happy start to their new school year. This moment was a joyful moment in an otherwise challenging time for these people who serve and their children, and USO Al Asad was happy to play a part in helping these families connect.