EStaying in Touch With Home, for Better or Worse#91The New York Times2/17/11James DaoVocabulary to Know Before You Readengrossed inexorablerapture cacophonousinsurgent stokeprosaicsordidwaywardunfetteredKUNDUZ !fghanistan " #orget the drones laser$guided bo%bs and eye$popping satellite i%agery& #or the a'erage soldier the %ost significant change to %odern warfare%ight (ust boil down to instant chatting&)onsider these scenes fro% northern !fghanistan*! gunner inside an ar%ored 'ehicle types furiously on a BlackBerry so engrossed in text$%essaging his girlfriend in the United +tates that he has forgotten to watch for ene%y %o'e%ent&! %edic watches her co%puter screen with so%ething approaching rapture as her ,$year$old son in #lorida scra%bles in and out of 'iew before planting wet kisses on the ca%era lens -.// %iles away&! s0uad leader who has (ust finished directing gunfire against insurgents finds a 0uiet place inside his co%bat outpost whips out his i1hone and dashes off an instant %essageto his wife back ho%e& 2!ll is well3 he tells her adding 24t5s been busy&36he co%%unication gap that once kept troops fro% staying looped into the (oyful depressing prosaic or sordid details of ho%e life has all but disappeared& 7ith ad'ances in cellular technology wider 4nternet access and the infectious use of social networking sites like #acebook troops in co%bat 8ones can now co%%unicate with ho%e nearly around the clock&6hey can partake in births and birthdays in real ti%e& 6hey can check sports scores take online college courses and e'en %anage businesses and stock portfolios&But there is a drawback* they can no longer tune out proble%s like faulty dishwashers and unpaid electric bills wayward children and failing relationships as they once could&6he 1entagon which for years resisted allowing unfettered 4nternet access on %ilitary co%puters because of cyber$security concerns has now e%braced the re'olution saying instant co%%unication is a huge %orale boost for troops and their fa%ilies& But %ilitaryofficials 0uietly acknowledge a downside to the connecti'ity&+o%e co%%anders worry that troops are playing with i1hones and BlackBerrys 9as well as :a%e Boys and ;1< players= when they should be working though such de'ices are strictly forbidden on foot patrols&;ore co%%on are concerns that the proble%s of ho%e are seeping inexorably into frontline life creating distractions for people who should be focusing on staying safe&24t5s powerful for good but it can also be powerful for bad when you5re hearing near realti%e about proble%s at ho%e3 said )ol& )hris 1hilbrick director of the !r%y5s suicide pre'ention task force& 24t forces you to literally keep your head in two ga%es at one ti%e when your head should be in (ust one ga%e in 4ra0 or !fghanistan&34t took the %ilitary se'eral years to co%e to ter%s with both the cyber$security and safety issues& 4nitially the 1entagon banned access to social networking sites& But when officials reali8ed that they were falling behind the ti%es and angering young 7eb$sa''y troops they conducted a study and deter%ined there was %ore to be gained by allowing access& )lassified$network co%puters still ha'e no access to social networking sites&6o see the upside of a well$connected force one need look no further than the ;orale 7elfare and Recreation building fondly known as the ;&7&R& at #orward >perating Base Kundu8 ho%e to the #irst Battalion ?-th 4nfantry for the past year&4n %ore than @/ plywood cubicles that are a'ailable all day soldiers sit in front of co%puter ter%inals or talk on telephones all of the% connected to ho%e& 6here is 'irtually no pri'acy so the argu%ents o'er %oney and children the lo'e talk and baby talk are clearly audible in one cacophonous sy%phony of chat&1fc& Briana +%ith ,< %edic and bubbly single %other is regularly in the ;&7&R& checking up on her ,$year$old son Daniel who is li'ing with her parents in 6a%pa& +he tries to call ho%e daily and routinely logs onto #acebook to check in with fa%ily and friends& !nd at least once a week she uses 'ideo conferencing on +kype to 'isit with Daniel&6he close co%%unication thrills her but can lea'e a pang too& 24 can5t be in'ol'ed in thee'eryday things3 she said& 24 only get to see the little tidbits of his life& 4t5s good to see but it5s a little heartbreaking at ti%es&36he 4nternet connections and phones are not all free& 6hough troops do not pay to use co%puters in the ;&7&R& they do pay for the phone calls& !nd those soldiers who bring their own cellphones pay fees that typically start at A-/ and fre0uently run as high as A