KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — During the Vietnam War, a GI’s best bet for communicating with family and friends was with pen and paper.
But from the streets of Baghdad to the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, troops today need only turn on a computer to reach out to loved ones. Being able to communicate with friends and family just hours after surviving a firefight, however, can be both a blessing and a bane, Rodger Randle, University of Oklahoma’s director for the Center for Studies in Democracy, said during a lecture here Thursday.
While it’s great to talk to your spouse at the end of a hot, dusty, dangerous day in Iraq, perhaps the last thing you want to hear from your spouse back in the United States is that the family car broke down, or little Jimmy’s having behavioral problems in school.
"We live in a world of exceptional connectivity," Randle said. "Back in World War II, when a soldier shipped out he’d be cut off from the rest of world for quite some time. Now, we’re placed in great anxiety when the Internet is cut off.
"The lives we lead today are very different from the lives we led before the Internet revolution."
Randle sees the invention of the Internet as an advancement in civilization that — like some other inventions — has had unintended and unforeseen consequences.
"In the 1970s, we recognized that the new technologies would change our lives," he said about advances in computer technology, telephones and the Internet. "The question then was how we were going to rise up to meet the greatest challenge this new technology promised — excess leisure time.
"Of course, the situation turned out exactly reversed," he said. "There’s never been a time when we’ve had less leisure time. Nobody takes a vacation. We’re always connected."
And that’s not always a good thing, said Kim Merkel, a personal services counselor at Marine Corps Community Services.
"I’ve seen where being able to call or e-mail the folks back home can be both a morale booster and a problem," Merkel said after the lecture.
"A lot of the Marines we see tell us they’ve been glad to be able to see videos of their newborn babies right away, and to be able to assure their wives they’re OK," she said.
"But there’s also an air of anxiety that can result," she added. "Perhaps the spouse is upset with a problem she’s having and is in an emotional state of frustration, and that feeling of helplessness on the part of her husband — who can’t do anything about what’s frustrating her — can affect his morale and the mission."
Merkel said she knows of instances when a husband would talk to his wife about a costly firefight or a bomb explosion that’s wounded someone in his unit, and the information becomes fodder for the rumor mill.
"Before you know it, Suzy Spouse is getting the news her husband has been hurt before there’s even that official knock on her door," Merkel said.
Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Keith Massa, of the 18th Medical Group, said he’s seen both sides of the coin.
"I’ve seen the morale of some individuals on deployment poorly affected by calls and e-mails," he said. "But for the most part it’s been good for morale."
