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Commo Blackout - I Never Knew

On, "Married to the Army - Alaska" there's been much talk about the 'Commo Blackout'.    During my husband's 1 year deployment in Afghanistan I never really noticed Communication Blackouts. 

 Here's why...

I talked to my husband on the phone once a week.  I spoke to him through email or messenger systems maybe every 3 days.  It's not like I could pick up the phone and call him and got a 'Commo Blackout' recording.  He communicated with me when he could.  Where he was at, there wasn't very good internet.  I was use to not hearing from him for days.  Commo Blackouts last, usually, no longer than 3 days.  It's more like 8-10 hours.  


I was an FRG Co-leader during his deployment.  Information we forwarded to spouses was about things that pertained to them.  If something happened down range, it was on a need to know basis.  There was only one time during the deployment where we had to read a message to every family member after there was a helicopter crash with loss of life.  This was to reassure the spouses that their service member was ok and that the affected family had been notified.  There was much media coverage during the time, so many spouse were concerned if it was their spouse.

At no time did anyone in Military leadership ever contact me and say, "We are in a Commo Blackout."  Our Green Suitors always provided the information we needed while respecting the privacy and needs of all families.

Army Wives do not sit around waiting to hear about Commo Blackouts.  We live our lives like everyone else.  I personally avoided the news during my husband's deployment.  I didn't need to hear about every injury and loss.  We have a saying in  Army Wife Life, "NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS!"  It is so true. 

Live your day to day to the fullest.  Send care packages and communicate.  That's all you can control.  Be involved in your FRG.  Avoid the gossip.  The only reason Army Wives should be gathering for a Commo Blackout is if they are part of a CARE TEAM that will be supporting the family.  Other than that it's GOSSIP and it doesn't serve the affected family.

The only time you will know about a Commo Blackout occuring is from a gossiping Army Spouse, if you are part of a Care Team,  or if you are the affected Army Spouse.

Note:  Care Teams are individuals that go through specialized training to assist families in those first days of notification.  They assist with childcare, food preparation, transportation, anything the family needs during the first weeks of learning about their loved one.  

What's been your experience with Commo Blackouts?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

When I was in Iraq, had Commo Blackouts almost every week. What the Army calls Commo Blackouts, the Navy/Marines call Gag Orders.

The reason commo blackouts aren't passed down to spouses and families back home is because communication is blocked, period. Cell tower signals are blocked, internet shut off, etc. Also, you don't want to panic families and spouses. Not receiving communication from your loved one is already scary enough. And, unfortunately, people do gossip and speculate and that's the last thing anyone needs. That's why they say "No news is good news."

This last deployment was our first deployment apart--his first time in Afghanistan. The communication there was sooo crappy--we never had clear phone calls. We couldn't skype because the connection there wouldn't hold up. So, we messaged every day on Yahoo and via email and sent each other videos once a week. He would get frustrated at how long it took to upload videos and how long it took to download mine lol.

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