By Sharon Omahen
University of
Georgia

Children of full-time, active-duty soldiers are somewhat prepared
for the possibility of a parent being deployed during wartime.
Children of reservists and guardsmen typically aren’t.

To help military kids cope with separation and other issues
related to having a soldier-parent, the University of Georgia
Extension Service has designed a week of 4-H camp just for
them.

“Operation 4-H: Joint Forces at the Falls” is set for July 11-15
at Wahsega 4-H Center in Dahlonega, Ga. It will bring together
120 of Georgia’s military teenagers.

The grant-funded camp costs just $25 for the week. It’s open to
13- through 15-year-old kids whose parent is now, will soon be or
has recently been deployed. The parent can be in any branch of
service, with emphasis on the Army National Guard, Air National
Guard or Army Reserve.

‘Suddenly military’

“This camp will especially benefit children of parents who are
what we call ‘suddenly military,’” said Mandy Marable, a UGA
Extension 4-H specialist and Operation Military Kids state
coordinator. “Suddenly military kids are those who have never
before experienced their guard or reserve parent being
deployed.”

In the past, their parents served their country by spending one
weekend a month or a few training weeks each summer away from
home, Marable said.

“With Operation Enduring Freedom and the global war on terrorism,
our country is relying more and more on guard and reservists to
defend our freedom,” she said. “When a parent leaves for duty, it
impacts the entire family. Operation 4-H is designed to help them
cope.”

Camp Robins

For the past two years, Georgia 4-H has offered a similar camp
Houston County. Peggy Bledsoe, the Houston County 4-H agent, and
Carolyn Stevens, the flight chief at Robins Air Force Base,
helped plan the first camp, Camp Robins.

“Being part of a military community, Peggy and Carolyn fully
understand how families are impacted by deployment,” Marable
said. “Now that we’re offering the camp statewide, we’re pulling
in resources like UGA Family and Consumer Sciences experts Don
Bower and Sharon Gibson, who are aware of military family needs
and have appropriate educational materials.”

At Camp Robins, Bledsoe found that going through experiences like
those of their parents greatly benefits military kids.

“Our campers go through the same ‘bag and drag’ experience and
deployment line on the first day,” she said. “They’re issued dog
tags and a black T-shirt, which serves as their uniform.”

Rise and shine

The military campers are awakened at 7 a.m. for their daily
exercise regime. They even eat military rations.

“The kids don’t really like getting up so early. But we want the
camp to be realistic,” Bledsoe said. “They don’t eat exactly like
their parents. We only serve them the MREs (meals ready to eat)
once.”

Bledsoe said she modeled Camp Robins after a similar camp at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. She’s excited to see it
expanded to a statewide camp.

“We’re now offering Camp Robins for younger military children,”
she said. “No matter where it’s held, it’s a wonderful, wonderful
camp that really meets a need in our state.”

One of the main goals is to have the teens experience military
life, Marable said. But it’s still 4-H camp.

“The kids get to do all the things we do in every other 4-H camp
across our state,” she said. “They’ll go swimming and tubing,
make crafts, climb high and low ropes courses and play ultimate
frisbee, too.”

For more on “Operation 4-H: Joint Forces at the Falls,” see the
program’s Web site at www.georgia4h
.org/main/Headlines/OMK/.

(Sharon Omahen is a news editor with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)