Dad ‘Joins’ Sons’ Scouting Event from Iraq

VILLAS — A room filled with over a dozen children waved to a laptop computer Feb. 4 at the Seashore Church of the Nazarene here as Staff Sgt. Antonio Iozzo waved back from his post in Erbil, Iraq.
With his position overseeing satellite communications, his wife, Marianne, and their two sons Lorenzo, 13, and Dominic, 11, are able to keep in touch with Sgt. Iozzo via Internet webcams and chat rooms. Modern computer technology enables the family to talk with and respond to their dad with minimal transmission delays.
As members of the church’s Caravan program, the boys are earning a career badge that requires them to interview their dad about his 13-year military career, with some help from the other children in the program.
The Caravan program is a co-ed Christian scouting program in which members earn badges for mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and social lessons.
The Web interview took place at 7 p.m. here but it was 3 a.m. in Iraq.
Children asked questions like, “Do you have snipers on the roof?” and “What’s the food like?”
Sgt. Iozzo told them that there are snipers, but not on the roof, and food is trucked in every two weeks. He said he tries to avoid MREs, (meals ready to eat), and he looks forward to eating a cheesesteak when he visits home in May.
Sgt. Iozzo has been on his first tour of Iraq for about three months. Though he is far away in the Middle East, Marianne said they talk over the Internet nearly every day. Antonio was able to see his children open their Christmas presents in real time online.
Sgt. Iozzo, a 1995 Middle Township High School graduate, told the youngsters how he helps soldiers contact their families through the phone and Internet through the company’s MWR (morale welfare and recreation) area, where troops have entertainment.
He showed everyone his M16 riffle, which weighs 16-pounds and never leaves his side. Also, Sgt. Iozzo told them that he must be in uniform 24 hours a day, even when not on shift.
He explained the patches on his uniform from different deployments in Afghanistan and Kuwait.
“One of the main reasons I joined the military was to take care of my kids and make them proud,” he said. If he was not in the Army, he said he would like to teach third grade. He said his favorite part of his job is when all satellites and communication systems are hooked up and running smoothly.
When asked what types of training are required for his job, Sgt. Iozzo told the kids a high school diploma or GED is required. However, enlistees get a better rank, like an officer, if they’ve attended college.
According to Sgt. Iozzo, the military can only show reruns of television programs and the only commercials they show promote the military. However, the post was able to watch the 2009 Super Bowl between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburg Steelers, but Sgt. Iozzo said he was “still cheering for the New England Patriots.”
For money, troops carry a military-issued Eagle Card, which is similar to a debit card and can be cancelled in the event that it’s lost or stolen so it doesn’t fund terrorism, Sgt. Iozzo said.
Throughout Sgt. Iozzo’s 13-year military career, he has been stationed in Iraq, Korea, Kuwait, New Mexico, Georgia, Oklahoma and Washington. With seven more years left in his contract he said it’s possible next he could be stationed in Germany, Italy or Alaska.
Fortunately, Sgt. Iozzo has not been badly injured in the line of duty. He explained that a scar on his cheek is from a box of food falling on him during a transport when a driver fell asleep and the truck rolled over several times before landing in a ditch.
Sgt. Iozzo knows down to the hour how much time remains before he can visit his family again, which was approximately 23.5 weeks or 164 days or about 3,867 hours. For his 12-month deployment he is allowed 17 days to come home for “R&R,” or rest and relaxation.
For Lorenzo’s 13th birthday, the Caravan group sang to him with his father joining in over the Internet.
Director Sherri McNulty explained that the program is open to kids from 2 years old up to the 6th grade and meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. from September through May at the church. Older kids work on a senior project to earn the “Phinesse Bresse,” the Caravan program’s highest award.
“This is the first time we’ve done anything like this. We’ve had special speakers come or we’ve taken the kids to see local police and fire departments, nursing homes and campouts but never using the Internet like this,” McNulty said.
Children’s pastor Brett Doninger explained that the Seashore Church of Nazarene is a holiness church that was created as a branch of Methodist over 100 years ago.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck @cmcherald.com