Red Cross Deploys AFES Team Overseas to Support U.S. Forces

Written by Christina Ward, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

December 19, 2001 — As U.S. military attacks in Afghanistan continue to dominate the headlines, American Red Cross staff members Terry Hitchcock and Wilfredo Solis packed their bags last week for a daunting four-month assignment. It's a tough time to leave their families — just as the holiday season begins — but the two men are prepared for the important task ahead of them. Hitchcock and Solis have been selected as the first Red Cross workers to go to southern Uzbekistan in support of American military forces and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Terry Hitchcock and Wilfredo Solis attended pre-trip briefings at American Red Cross national headquarters before heading to Uzbekistan.

"After two weeks of Red Cross and military briefings, the team is expected to arrive in Uzbekistan on or about December 23," said Carolyn Seldon, senior associate for deployments with the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services (AFES) unit. "Their responsibility will be to provide emergency communications and related casework services, as well as 'quality of life' activities."

As full-time staff members of the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services (AFES) unit, Hitchcock and Solis are trained to provide emergency communications between deployed U.S. service members and their families. In this case, the service members are part of the 10th Mountain Division, out of Ft. Drum, N.Y. Upon learning of their deployment, the 10th Mountain Division made a specific request to American Red Cross National Headquarters for Red Cross support.

The job is a critical one: Under its 1905 congressional charter, the American Red Cross is the sole agency designated to provide emergency communications for the U.S. military. If family members have an urgent need to contact a service member overseas, they can send a message through their local Red Cross chapter. The news must be highly important, such as a death, birth or family illness. The chapter verifies the emergency, then passes the message to the Armed Forces Emergency Services Center (AFESC) located at Red Cross national headquarters, or to the AFESC at Ft. Sill, Okla. The messages are then transmitted to a military camp or base where AFES staff members are assigned. The AFES staff members normally receive the messages via computer and then deliver them to the designated service members as quickly as possible.

The process also works in reverse: Service members may send urgent messages to their relatives through AFES staff, and Red Cross chapter workers will contact the family members in their home communities immediately.

Once Hitchcock and Solis arrive, there will be five AFES teams deployed around the world to support American forces — in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

Solis and Hitchcock pack a trunk with supplies for the AFES tent.

On this assignment, in addition to their main role of emergency messaging, Hitchcock and Solis will strive to improve the quality of life for service members at the isolated campsite. Conditions will be difficult for the service members, who must contend with the constant danger and stress of the military operation, along with the bitter cold and harsh wind of that region's winter.

"We'll have a tent set up with all of our computer equipment for communications," Hitchcock explained, "but we'll also set up a canteen — a snack and beverage area, where service members can take breaks." Depending on the interests of the service members, he said, they may also establish a library tent, stocked with donated paperbacks; a comfort kit area, providing free toiletries; a video library (VCRs and televisions will be available at the camp) and a weekly "game night" featuring tournaments of Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit or other board games. The men will also provide support for the on-site military hospital as needed.

Hitchcock, who is an AFES station manager in Kitzingen, Germany, is the more experienced of the pair. On deployment assignments like this one, a less experienced AFES staff member is typically paired with an AFES "veteran" who can serve as mentor. Hitchcock has been with the Red Cross for 31 years and has supported U.S. forces in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and twice in Bosnia. He also served yearlong AFES assignments in both Vietnam and Korea.

All AFES teams take special American Red Cross AFES coins on deployment trips like this one. The coins are given as thank-you gifts to soldiers that assist the AFES team.

Solis has been a part of the Red Cross for nine years, with the first six years spent as part of Red Cross Blood Services in Puerto Rico. "I applied for a position with AFES three years ago, seeking a change of pace and challenge," Solis said, smiling. "I'm certainly getting what I was looking for." Back at home, in New Mexico, Solis is an AFES station manager at Holloman Air Force Base. The Operation Enduring Freedom assignment is his first overseas deployment during a conflict situation.

One thing the two men share, however, as they head off for four months outside Afghanistan: concerned family members.

"Despite all the assignments I've had over the years, my wife is more anxious about this one than ever before," Hitchcock admitted. And Solis has spent hours preparing his wife and two young daughters, 9 and 7, for his absence. "That's the hardest part for me," he said. "I told them we can e-mail back and forth, and we are also planning to read the same Bible passages each night, even though we are far apart."

But the team members aren't afraid of what lies ahead, they added. "There's no question that every deployment has an element of danger or risk," Hitchcock said, "but we have full confidence in the soldiers we'll be with."

Office supplies and board games are some of the key items in the team's luggage. They will also take computers and other high-tech equipment to facilitate emergency communication.

Carolyn Seldon led the two men in their pre-trip briefings at Red Cross headquarters. She said Hitchcock and Solis will be on assignment in Uzbekistan for 120 days, at which time a new two-person AFES team will be sent to replace them and serve another 120 days. This process will continue as long as Red Cross support is needed. The switchovers are not as easy as they might seem, she added. Seldon herself has served on deployment assignments to Panama, Haiti and Bosnia prior to her current position at national headquarters.

"The end of an AFES field assignment is always ambivalent," she said. "You become attached to the soldiers. They see the Red Cross and it reminds them of home. … There's just something important about the Red Cross presence for the troops. The AFES area becomes a 'comfort zone' for many of them — a place where they can take a break from the military world for a brief while."

Hitchcock confirmed this, based on his many overseas experiences. "There are definitely mixed feelings when it's time go home. But that's part of the job. As the Red Cross, it is our duty to serve the military, and they depend on us. It's a very positive position to be in."