Deployed Airmen call home free Christmas Day

  • Published
  • By Jocelynn LaShier
  • 95th Force Support Squadron
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Edwards Airmen who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan will have the free opportunity to call home, thanks to Operation Uplink, sponsored by the Veteran's of Foreign Wars and the Airman and Family Readiness Center.

This program is provided in addition to the 15-minute weekly morale calls. Assisting the VFW and AFRC with this deployment support initiative are the Installation Personnel Readiness and Unit Deployment Monitors. The VFW has a set schedule of "Free Call Days" beginning Christmas Day and continuing subsequent major holidays.

Master Sgt. Deshanta Richardson, AFRC noncommissioned officer in charge, maintains the "Free Call Day" schedule set forth by the VFW Office and provides the access phone number and five personal identification numbers to the IPR NCOIC, who coordinates with each UDM and provides the phone access and assigns a PIN to a UDM. Each UDM provides the phone access and assigned PIN with each Airmen currently deployed in the theater. Then each UDM reports back to the AFRC NCO the number of PINS given out. The AFRC reports back numbers of PINs given out to the VFW Office.

Calling time starts at 12:01 a.m. and ends at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For most Airmen currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan that means the Free Call Day starts at 8 a.m. the day of the event and lasts until 7:59 a.m. the day after. From the deployed theatre, all the Airman needs to do is use any LAN line that has a DSN access to dial an operator to make a morale call and then they provide the 1-800 number given to them by their home station UDM. Once the call is connected, they can enter the PIN and then dial their family and friends' number. The PINs are very easy to use and can be used simultaneously. Each PIN will be reactivated for each Free Call Day, which runs for a full 24-hour. For any issues with the PIN number, the Airman can either call the customer service number at 1 -866-599-6078 or report the issue to their UDM if unable to resolve it. The UDM addresses the issue with the AFRC NCO and the AFRC NCO addresses the issue to the VFW for resolution.

For more information, call Sergeant Richardson at 277-2419 or Jocelynn LaShier at 277-0230.