Missouri Guard Soldiers deployed to Qatar participate in United Through Reading program

Spc. Gessee Luos, chaplains assistant for the 175th Military Police Company deployed to Qatar, has been helping Soldiers participate in the United Through Reading program. Luos' favorite book is "I Love You All Day Long" by Francesca Rusackas. (Photo submitted by 175th Military Police Company)

By Rachel Knight
ngmo.pao@us.army.mil

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - One of the most difficult things a child can experience is having a parent deployed to a war zone. Spc. Gessee Luos and Spc. Erica Guzman have stepped in to help ease this burden - they are helping Soldiers participate in the United Through Reading program.

"As I'm sure you can imagine, the separation is extremely difficult on both parents and children, especially younger children," said Courtney Anderson, country programs manager for the USO in Qatar. Skype is not always available on bases and if it is, bandwidth still presents problems.

"Not only is being able to read a story something that brings happiness to the deployed parent, but the children love it," Anderson said. "On a deeper level, if the deployed parent participates in the program it is a way for the children to see the little changes that mommy or daddy may be physically going through so (if Skype is not possible) they don't see a stranger when they get home."

Luos and Guzman, deployed with the 175th Military Police Battalion, volunteered to help run the program on Camp As Sayliyah to help Anderson as she travels often throughout Qatar.

"With me gone, it is nearly impossible for Service members to gain access to the room," she said. "They both help me out more than I can say, and in return, they are eligible for USO volunteer hours and accordingly, promotion points should they wish to have their command put in for them."

The 175th Military Police Battalion, headquartered in Columbia, is joined by the 2175th Military Police Company, headquartered in Hannibal; the 1137th Military Police Company, headquartered in Kennett; and the 3175th Chemical Company, headquartered at Jefferson Barracks, on a yearlong deployment to Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, where the unit is providing base security missions. Qatar, located across the Persian Gulf from Iran, serves as a central staging area and recreation center for U.S. Troops throughout the Middle East.

"The United Through Reading has been around for some time and doesn't use any new kind of technology, however it had really fallen by the wayside here at Camp As Sayliyah until Spc. Guzman and Spc. Luos revitalized it," said Capt. Wesley Dickman, plans officer for the deployed 175th Military Police Battalion. "With both of them working with the program, they were able to provide more times for Soldiers to set down and record the books, which is important when the battalion is running 24-hour operations and they raised awareness through increased advertising of the program."

"I wanted to get to know our Soldiers better, and their Families," said Luos, chaplain's assistant.

So far, the base has 17 Missouri National Guard Soldiers participating in the program.

According to Anderson, the base averages about 10 to 15 books a month.

They way the program works is that the Service member reads a book while being recorded and sends the DVD home to the child. The child at home watches the DVD and follows along with the book, if available. The parent at home captures the child's reaction to the DVD in a photo or email and sends it back to the Service member. The Service member's morale is boosted by the feedback, and he or she is encouraged to read again.

"One soldier informed me that his children love it and were excited to see their Daddy on the TV," Luos said.

Some of the stories on the book list - ranges in age groups from zero to eight, six and up, eight and up, and 10 and up - include "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Joffe Numerofff, "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans, "One Fish, Two Fish" by Dr. Suess, and many more.

One of Luos' favorite books so far is "I Love You All Day Long" by Francesca Rusackas.

"It's one of the few books in our program that I remember from my childhood," she said.

United Through Reading was founded in 1989 to unite military families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. The vision of the program is that all children will feel the security of a caring family relationship and develop a love of reading through the read aloud experience.

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