Will, a Soldier on His First Deployment, Connects to His Family Through the USO Reading Program

By Danielle DeSimone

When U.S. Army National Guard Capt. Will Winn received his deployment orders to Eastern Europe, he knew that it would take some time to adjust to this new normal – for himself, and for his loved ones. With a wife and two children at home, being away for 9-10 months can be challenging for both sides of the family.

However, through a shared love for reading and with a little help from the USO, Will has been able to connect with his loved ones in a unique way while on deployment, bridging the distance between them.

Captain Will Winn’s First Deployment

Will was born and raised in Arkansas, and he first joined the National Guard in 2014. He didn’t have much of a family history of serving in the military, which can sometimes inspire people to follow in their family’s footsteps. Will simply felt that joining the military was something that he had to do.

“I just felt it was a higher calling, like a sense of purpose,” Will explained. “I always kind of craved that and always thought it was something I wanted to do.”

After years of training at home in Arkansas, Will’s National Guard unit, which is from Little Rock, was deployed to Romania for a law enforcement mission. Here at this duty station in Romania, a country that borders Ukraine, Will serves as the provost marshal – essentially, he is charge of all law enforcement for the garrison. Will pointed out that this role is a big change from his day job back home in Arkansas, where he works as a pharmaceutical sales representative. However, this deployment is also his chance to put all of his training to the test, ensuring that his unit upholds the law and enforces rules throughout the base to ensure the safety of everyone deployed there.

However, being deployed does not come without its challenges: although Will has only been in Romania for approximately one month, he has already been gone from home for two months, as his unit undertook standard training prior to deploying. And although he has been apart from his family during his regular Guard training, this is Will’s first deployment – and the first time he has been apart from his family for a prolonged period of time.

“I’ve never been away from my kids for this long,” he explained.

Back home, Will’s family is waiting for his return: his wife and two children, a three-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. Will shared that for his children, adjusting to daily life without their father around has been a bit confusing and challenging at times, especially for his older daughter.

“She was excited at first and she knew that daddy was going to do something, but being able to explain to her what daddy was doing and why he was going to another country and everything … that didn’t really take effect until I was already gone,” he said. “We’ve been away for a little while now and the first portion of that was pretty difficult on a seven-year-old, so that was a little tough.”

Will and his family have attempted to stay in touch while he’s been away, but even with a Wi-Fi connection, speaking regularly has been a challenge when trying to balance the eight-hour time difference, Will’s work schedule and his children’s school and sleep schedules. The family tries to speak to each other as much as possible on the weekends, when Will is still on call, but doesn’t always have to be in his office.

Will explained that there are some elements of being deployed and life in the military that civilians might not always understand. For example, when thinking of a deployment, civilians don’t always consider that both sides of the families are struggling: the service member and the loved ones they’ve left behind.

“You have a service member who’s gone, and you have all the sadness and depression and loneliness that comes with that person’s experience. But the other side of the family, the spouse or the kids or whoever is back home – they all have almost the exact same things, but it’s significantly different environment.”

Will explained that while his family may struggle adjusting to a new normal without him at home, he is also adjusting to a new normal – but without the comfort and support of their home and their daily lives. Both sides of the family can face challenges during a deployment, and that is why both sides of the family need support.

Back home, however, Will says that his wife “is crushing it” as she holds down the fort, solo parenting their children for nearly a year while also balancing her job as a teacher. Although juggling these roles is no small feat, Will explained that his wife is “doing fantastic” through it all, and especially in supporting his children, who are having a challenging time with his deployment.

“It was difficult in the beginning because, again, a three-year old and a seven-year-old don’t quite understand why Dad left. They know that dad had to go to do some things, but we also don’t have the concept of time,” Will said. “Ten months is a long time, but we don’t really understand that ten months is a long time until dad’s been gone for two weeks.”

Will’s young son has been somewhat confused by the change, and has continued to insist that his father will be coming home each Sunday, as that was usually the day that Will came home from Guard drills. And now, each Sunday, Will’s wife has to explain to their son once again that his dad isn’t coming home yet.

“Being able to video call or even read a book over a video, where they can see your face and they can actually see you talk, that brings a lot of comfort,” Will said.

And so, Will did just that – he walked through the doors of USO Romania and was able to read a book to his children back home.

How Will Used the USO Reading Program to Connect to His Children While Deployed

After Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the USO responded quickly to meet the needs of the thousands of American service members who were deployed to Eastern Europe in response. While the people who serve are supporting our allies in the region, the USO is supporting those in uniform. We swiftly opened several new USO Centers, of which we have more than 250 across the globe.

At these Centers, service members can use the space and amenities all for free, including snacks and access to Wi-Fi, comfy spaces to relax in, libraries, programs and events, as well as comfortable couches and places to watch TV and game with their fellow service members.

Deployments can be a challenging time for deployed service members, which is why having a place they can turn to, where they can connect with loved ones back home and each other, is crucial.

“On deployment, you have your office, your barracks room where you sleep and then the chow hall. Those are your three places. You’re always going to be there, so in your free time, those are the places you don’t want to be,” Will said. “Places like this USO offer a great outlet for our soldiers.”

Will explained how, with limited places to spend time in beyond where you work, sleep and eat, it can be difficult to find a place to recharge in their downtime where they can also connect with others. That’s why the USO Center is so helpful.

“You can come [to Romania] and you can feel completely isolated, because you don’t have to be around people when you’re off duty,” Will said. “That’s the reason why something like [the USO Center] is very helpful for soldiers because it’s a nice, comfortable place where people can commune, hang out and be together.”

Having never deployed before, Will wasn’t previously familiar with the USO. The USO does in fact provide support to the people who serve and their families at USO Centers across the United States, however, for National Guard members who may not spend every day on a military base, their experience with the USO at these locations is sometimes limited – that is, until they are deployed.

And so, Will’s first experience with the USO was when he and his unit stopped in Germany on their way to Romania; the USO Center was the only place open when they were there, and Will was able to turn to the USO to get a hot cup of coffee. Then, upon arrival in Romania, Will made sure to visit the USO Center on base to see what our organization had to offer.

It was here that Felix Rodriguez-Paulino, the USO Romania center operations specialist, told Will about 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.

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.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this will be great,’” Will said. “I found a book that I know both my kids like, and I read it.”

Upon sending the video home to his family, Will’s wife forwarded the video to their son’s school.

“I didn’t know she was doing that, but she sent it to the school, and they actually played it in the classes and my son, being only three and in daycare, they videotaped him while he was there,” Will said.

“The smile on his face when his daddy was on the screen reading a book … that took care of the first two months of any emotion that I had on deployment. That was fantastic. He was super happy, and the fact that they videotaped it and are able to send it to me was really cool, so that helped.”

Will explained how much he appreciated that the USO Center had a private space for service members to record themselves reading books away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of Center activities. When deployed on a base that is constantly running operations, it can be challenging to find a space to speak alone with loved ones – but in the USO Reading Program room, Will and other service members can do just that.

“It’s a very nice set-up, very accommodating. I felt like I could be myself and open up, and say whatever I wanted,” Will shared.

He also enjoyed how streamlined the process was, and how easy it was to utilize the program – both for himself, and his family back home. Will was especially excited to discover the USO Reading Program because reading is such an integral part of his family’s daily life. With his wife’s job as a teacher, she is always reading to their children, fostering a love for books in their household.

“So that was a big deal to be able to send them that, they loved it.”

With only a month down and several to go, Will plans to return to the USO Center – not only to utilize the USO Reading Program, but also to take part in other USO programs and activities meant to boost morale and provide a home away from home, such as trivia nights and holiday meals.

This will be the first time Will is spending the holidays apart from his family back home, so USO Holidays programming – which provide seasonal activities to keep service members connected to traditions of home – can serve as a supportive resource while deployed.

“A lot of the people that are here on post now are going to be here through all the holidays,” Will said. “And so again, for it being my first time on deployment, I don’t what it’ll be like, but I’m sure it’s going to be difficult and it’ll be difficult for everybody here.”

If his family isn’t able to travel over the holidays to visit him somewhere in Europe while on leave, then Will plans to see what holidays activities the USO has planned.

“Places such the USO and the individuals that work here do make it significantly easier,” Will said. “I haven’t been to other USO locations besides Germany and here, but from the experience here, it makes you feel a lot more comfortable.”

However, through programs and amenities such as being able to call your family and friends via the Wi-Fi in the USO Center, or utilizing the USO Reading Program to help connect with children anxiously awaiting your return, service members such as Will, and their families, can bridge the distance between loved ones and turn to the USO for support throughout their deployment experience.