By Mary Jo Blackwood, American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming Public Affairs
It all started with Clara Barton on the battlefields of the Civil War. Her work led to the formation of the American Red Cross, and its initial mandate of taking care of our military. We are still doing that, constantly evolving to meet new and pressing needs. And not just on the battlefields of home, but in far-flung parts of the world.
One special type of American Red Cross employee living that mandate is the mobile employee working with Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) and International Services. Mobile means just that. These employees have in their job descriptions mobilization for up to six months at a time on a military base in one of various countries throughout Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. SAF mobile employees accept work assignments anywhere in the world, including conflict areas, where the American Red Cross is providing support to the members of the Armed Forces. Mobile staff members typically deploy for six months at a time typically, approximately once every 18-24 months, and can be sent to any military base in the world.
The SAF onboarding process orients new staff to their positions and their region. They must be fully trained in emergency communication casework and maintain proficiency. They also must become certified in First Aid/CPR and renew it every two years. Annual training in leadership and military culture is also required.
Mobile staff start learning about the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of deployment as soon as they are hired. They get updates on the deployment sites through regularly scheduled calls with mobile employees still at home and those on deployment.
We caught up with one of the Colorado/Wyoming Region’s mobile employees soon after she returned from a six-month deployment to Bulgaria. Mary Mekeal, a senior regional program specialist for SAF and International Services, treasures her first deployment experience.
Mekeal joined the Red Cross in January 2022, after a varied career in various industries, including two years AmeriCorps service in a Philadelphia school, working in fund-raising for non-profits, and picking up a master’s degree in social work along the way. Born and raised in Colorado, this is where she and her family call home.
The deployment teams, she explains, can vary in size and shortened deployment intervals, depending on the urgency of the deployment. Her group had 23. They had training and onboarding together, and then were sent to their deployment sites. Usually, there are several deployed to a site. She was the only one this time at her base in Bulgaria. There, she served U.S. soldiers and NATO troops from different countries, which added to the interest and complexity of her job.
She explains her role: “My main function is twofold, to assist in the delivery of emergency messages for service members; and to support base volunteers who provide morale-building activities for those on deployment.”
Emergency communication for military families is a service the American Red Cross has a Congressional mandate to provide, and they take it very seriously. It could be a notification to a deployed family member of a serious illness in the family back home, an impending birth, or other critical matter.
Morale-building activities may include karaoke nights, fun runs, movie marathons, even fun observances like National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Because military deployed there have some downtime and varied schedules, they also serve as volunteers for their fellow soldiers. Mekeal had about 40 volunteers who did those and other morale-enhancing jobs, like running the lending library or the canteen.
When asked to describe the typical mobile employee, she says there is no “typical”. Some are younger and single, like her. Others are married with children or retired. Many are former military members, or military dependents who may have utilized Red Cross services during their time in the service. One thing they all have in common, however, is having the training, skills and desire to serve our troops and see other parts of the world.
She didn’t have to think very long when asked about her fondest memories of her first deployment. “The volunteers and service members make everything, any sacrifice or inconvenience, worthwhile. They mean so much to me. I could never express to them how they changed me and made me feel even closer to our Red Cross mission. The folks who commit their lives to the military are a very special group. They come from all walks of life with unique desires and life stories. I am still in contact with many of them.”
She adds, “SAF deployments are so different from disaster deployments. Our goals and how we measure success are pretty different. Disaster relief has more focus on the setting. With our deployments, we are focused mostly on the service members and their on-going needs. Truly, the location of the deployment was not as important to me as the relationships I formed while there.”