Imagine being told to pack your bags. You’re getting sent to the other side of the world and will be working in a desert for the next six months to two years. It’ll be hot during the day ─ too hot to go outside ─ and the only source of extracurriculars will be a gym. This is a reality for hundreds of young service members every day. And the American Red Cross is there to support them every step of the way.
Aspyn Adams was part of the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces expeditionary mobile workforce, a rotating team of individuals who provides comfort and support to the military community stationed overseas. The unique role, requiring candidates to meet some of the same health and physical demands as Department of Defense personnel themselves, is described as one of the most rewarding things to do; but also, one of the most demanding, working long hours, often alone, in extreme and sometimes hostile conditions.
"Self-care is extremely crucial for [SAF mobile staffers] because I think we often get burnt out,” shared Aspyn while reflecting on her six-month deployment to Iraq. “[During my deployment] it was very crucial for me to understand how I felt when I woke up in the morning, whether that was extreme exhaustion, if I needed extra rest, if I needed to take it easy that day, or you know, if I had the capacity to push myself."
While deployed, Aspyn transmitted emergency communication messages through the Hero Care Network and ran a gauntlet of leisure activities at the installation’s Red Cross Respite Center.
“It was about creating opportunities for them,” said Aspyn. “To decompress, to relax, that may have not been available before. My goal, anywhere I go, is to create an environment of just peace, tranquility and security.”
Military lore speaks of respite centers as third spaces where rank no longer exists; one of the few places where service members can just relax and be themselves, despite their position. The offering takes on a whole other dimension in a combat zone.
“We had lockdown drills every Wednesday, but then a sporadic attack might happen somewhere nearby, and we’d have more,” shared Aspyn.
To help the troops relax, Aspyn started weekly “Create and Chill” sessions where she’d put on Brazilian jazz and transform the respite center into a cozy art studio where service members were invited to paint or draw a picture based on the week’s theme. “When I started [Create and Chill] we didn’t have that many people at first. I would say a decent six people, but it went up.”
“What I liked to do [before each session] was come up with a theme, like cartoons or childhood. Something light and very vague but I think it helped give the task more of a sense of purpose,” explained Aspyn.
“There were times that I had to cancel for the safety of people. There was one time I did not cancel, and it was on the request of the soldiers because they were so anxious.”
The anxiety rode on the heels of three straight days of unexpected lockdown alerts. While expecting few attendees that night, Aspyn was shocked to see between 50 to 60 service members show up, eager to escape their rooms and engage with one another that evening and create work according to that night’s theme: deployment.
“The soldiers wanted something because they knew as soon as that session ended, they were gonna go on-duty basically, protecting and all that security business. The mindset was no one wanted to 'go out stressed’ if the worst happened,” Aspyn shared. “It was their reality, the reality of the situation; the thinking was ‘why make it worse’ sitting alone in our rooms—so we spent the time together doing something creative and relaxing.”
The art session gave the troops an occasion to convene, connect and find community in their shared stressful experience.
“When you’re in a hostile environment for so long, anxiety is high. Little touches mean a lot,” said Aspyn.
Those little touches, these moments of relief, lie at the heart of a Red Cross mobile deployment.
Learn more about Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces here.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
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