Technology helped 322nd Engineering soldiers stay in touch with their families

Many of the soldiers of the 322nd Engineering Battalion and their family members have said that 2011's deployment to Afghanistan was somewhat easier than the unit's 2003 deployment to Iraq.

There are several reasons for this, but one important reason is the way improved technology allowed the soldiers to keep in touch with their families.

The biggest change has been Skype, the voice over Internet Protocol service that allows people to communicate by voice, video and instant messaging over the Internet. Skype now has 663 million users--and plenty of them are in the military. 

Waukon resident Edwin Frick, for instance, is a fan.  "I talked to my kids every Sunday," he says, adding he and his wife talked even more frequently, sometimes by Skype and sometimes by cell phone.

Soldiers tell decorahnews.com Skyping is not without some issues--especially when there are a lot of soldiers who want to talk with their families at the same time and the connection gets slower.

But technology has helped keep the soldiers and their families connected.  Samantha Tart of Wycoff, Minnesota said she relied on the 322nd Family Support Group's Facebook page to stay informed on what was happening to the unit.

And technology has reached to all corners of the globe--decorahnews.com posted several news stories from Kandahar on our visit to the 322nd Engineering Battalion.