TroopTube: Keeping Military Families Connected

November 19, 2008 • written by Vanessa Tackman

            A new form of YouTube for military families are now featured at website called TroopTube. If a family member is off working in any country due to military combat, the families can contact them through videos on TroopTube. Bevin Coe, a junior asked “What is TroopTube?” Trooptube is mainly for troops and their families deployed in different countries. Bevin, whose father is currently deployed in Iraq, could easily use this site to contact her dad and stay in touch. Since this site has been recently added, many troops and their families are not familiar with it yet.

            The site is set up so people can easily get into the site without any difficulties. Other videos are available on the site. There are private videos for those who do not want people to see what they’ve sent or received. The time limitations of the videos are a maximum of 5 minutes long.

            To use the site, all that is needed is to fill out some information so soldiers can contact you or send you videos at any time. Other information is needed so that videos are sent and received at the correct locations. Sharing these videos throughout the year is just another way to connect with family and stay close, instead of using phone, email, and letters.

            The site is powered by military OneSource, and has a contacting place on the site where people can send feedback and post opinions. Once signed up, people are able to use the site frequently by putting in their usernames and passwords. Videos can be sent by the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Guard/Reserve, civilian family members, and civilian friends.

            “I’ve never heard of that site,” said Lauren Klossner, a junior. “It sounds important though, so I think I might try it out.” Lauren’s dad, who is deployed is Iraq, is a first class sergeant who is an air traffic controller and works for the army national guard.

In the sixth grade her father left for a year to go to Iraq, and her family faced some troubled times without being able to contact him every second they wanted to. This year he left in August and will not be back till next August.

            On the site were many featured videos that contained soldiers sending videos to their families telling them what was going on and how much they miss them. Feedback shown was very positive, and one member wrote how excited she was to make more videos for her husband of her children on the holidays.  

There are probably a number of people that have heard of this site, and many people who have not. Maybe this website will end up making a difference on people’s lives, helping families to stay connected no matter how far away they are.

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