Cisco TelePresence Offers U.S. Military Families A New Way to Reach Their Loved Ones in Iraq

May 8, 2008

By Betsey Flood, News@Cisco

Lisa Alexander, a petite brunette with carefully groomed hair waited expectantly outside a special room in the Temecula, California, Wal-Mart store. Married to Dennis Alexander, a U.S. Marine corporal stationed near Fallujah, one of the most violence-prone areas in Iraq, Lisa hadn't seen her husband for many months. They had been able to speak on the phone and send emails but this would be the first time she would see him.

She walked into the room and suddenly there he was, smiling at her. She gasped with surprise; he was life size and she could see every detail of him perfectly. "Baby, you look amazing," he said. He looked and spoke as if he was sitting across the table from her, just a few feet away. She had to stop herself from trying to reach across 7,800 miles to touch his face. Tears filled her eyes.

This was the March 24 test run of Operation Military Connect. The three-month-long joint effort between Cisco, Wal-Mart, Verizon, and the United Service Organizations (USO) uses Cisco TelePresence to bring military families at two U.S. military bases—Camp Pendleton, California, and Fort Drum, New York—closer to their loved ones who are half a world away in Iraq.

Since that first meeting, the Alexanders have been able to use the TelePresence system about once a week.

Virtual Family Reunions

Between April 2 and July 6, hundreds of families from the two bases will be able to book a TelePresence room at any time of the day or night at a local Wal-Mart store for virtual—and probably emotional—reunions with loved ones serving at two bases in Iraq. The project's timing spans key family and patriotic holidays including Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, the Fourth of July, and Military Appreciation month, which happens to be in May.

New possible uses for the Cisco TelePresence rooms have already emerged from the early weeks of Operation Military Connect, including virtual family photos, re-enlistment, and perhaps even a military wedding.

Public and Private Organizations Join Forces

It all began with a conversation between Cisco CEO John Chambers and Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott at the World Economic Forum in Davos one year ago, about new ways to use telepresence technology—including recognizing and thanking U.S. military families for enduring the hardships and sacrifices of living thousands of miles apart.

Three major companies have joined forces with the U.S military to realize this vision. Cisco is providing the TelePresence units and satellite systems for the project. Verizon is contributing toward network bandwidth to connect the locations. Wal-Mart is hosting the systems at stores close to each base in rooms specially built and decorated by its store employees that will allow the families privacy and comfort. Working through the sponsorship of the USO has helped the project progress smoothly.

Bases of Operation

Why choose these bases? The U.S. military helped the team identify two bases in Iraq where soldiers were the most at risk, where there were limited communications capabilities, and where there was a large concentration of soldiers from one U.S. home base.

For maximum impact, the project team decided to set up TelePresence units at Al Taqaddum, an airbase close to Fallujah which supports the 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force, (home base: Camp Pendleton) and at Forward Operating Base Warrior near Kirkuk, which supports the 1^st Bridge Combat Team, 10^th Mountain Division (home base: Fort Drum). Corresponding TelePresence rooms were set up for use by the families at the Temecula, California Wal-Mart store (for families from Camp Pendleton) and the Wal-Mart store in Evans Mills, New York, (for families from Fort Drum).

Volunteers Coming Together

"Amazing people came together with commitment, passion, and a can-do attitude," says Mayfield, a former U.S. Army captain who served in Iraq as recently as 2006. "Starting with Jason Haase—had it not been for his tireless efforts, this project may have still been just an idea between CEOs. Then there were the teams who went into Iraq and set up the equipment in extreme conditions. And finally, there are the volunteers who will support the project to the end to respond to any technical issues.

"It's important to note that everyone who participated on this project did so while still conducting their day jobs," he adds.