Army Reserve Family Programs Web Portal Helps Families Communicate with Their Deployed Soldiers; Partnership with Operation Uplink Provides Global Phone Cards.

SAN DIEGO -- The Army Reserve today announced an opportunity for families, friends and employers of Army Reserve Soldiers to sign up for free global calling cards to be provided to their Soldiers. The Army Reserve Family Programs Web Portal (www.arfp.org) is joining with the VFW's "Operation Uplink" program to enhance the ability of families to communicate with their Soldiers.

"Being away from home is hard, and it becomes even more difficult during holidays," said Michael Evans, Army Reserve Family Programs Manager. "Soldiers away from home are often deployed to foreign locations where the separation is more difficult. The families at home are also challenged due to the disruption of family traditions. That's why we are joining with Operation Uplink to help Soldiers and their families stay connected."

"Operation Uplink is a unique program that keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with a free phone card," said John Furgess, National Commander of the VFW. "Using contributions from supporters, Operation Uplink purchases phone cards and distributes them to servicemen and women who are separated from those they care about."

"I know from personal experience that when my husband is able to call home from Iraq and find out that our sons and I are doing fine, it boosts his morale and lets him focus on his mission," said Sabrena Field of Manhattan, Kansas. Her husband, Sergeant First Class Edward Field, was deployed to Iraq last year as part of the 482nd Transportation Company based in Cherokee, Iowa. "I think Operation Uplink is providing a great service to our troops and their families."

In order to increase the resources available to provide phone cards to as many Soldiers as possible now and for the upcoming holidays, supporters of military families are encouraged to make a donation to Operation Uplink. Information on making a donation to Operation Uplink is also available on the Army Reserve Family Programs web site at www.arfp.com or at www.operationuplink.org.

Requests for an Operation Uplink Phone Card for a specific Soldier or a loved one can be made through www.operationuplink.org/request.cfm.

Cards can only be sent to hospitalized veterans or deployed military personnel.

The Army Reserve Family Programs staff currently provides vital information and services to Army Reserve Soldiers and their families. The Army Reserve Family Programs Portal, developed by DefenseWeb Technologies of San Diego, replicates this physical family support system in a readily accessible virtual environment. Features of the new portal include the capability to upload video messages recorded by the family and then emailing the link to the deployed Soldier who can view the streamed message whenever he or she can get Internet access.

There are more than one million Army Reserve Soldiers ready to support Active Duty Soldiers and serve the nation when called upon by the President. The Army Reserve has nearly 62,000 Soldiers deployed worldwide.

About Operation Uplink/VFW

Operation Uplink (www.operationuplink.org) is a unique program that keeps military personnel and hospitalized veterans in touch with their families and loved ones by providing them with a free phone card. Operation Uplink, a project sponsored by the Veterans Of Foreign Wars (VFW), has already distributed over 7,000,000 prepaid phone cards. The VFW is an organization of war veterans with 1.8 million members in 9,000 Posts committed to ensuring rights, remembering sacrifices, promoting patriotism, performing community service and advocating a strong national defense. For more information: www.vfw.org.

About the Army Reserve

The Army Reserve is one of three components in the Army, along with Active Duty and Army National Guard. The Army Reserve has more than 2,000 units in the United States, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Germany, each one trained in a specialized skill and ready to support Army missions around the world.

The purpose of the Army Reserve is to "... provide trained units and qualified persons available for active duty in the armed forces, in time of war or national emergency, and at such other times as the national security may require ..." (US Code: Title 10, Subtitle E, Part 1, Chapter 1003, Section 10102).

For more information, visit www.arfp.org.

About DefenseWeb(R) Technologies, Inc.

DefenseWeb Technologies, Inc. (www.defenseweb.com) provides customized enterprise software development services for Department of Defense (DoD) organizations. Founded in 1998, DefenseWeb delivers Enterprise Information Portals, Case Management Systems, Clinical Information Systems, Business Process Automation Systems, Training Systems and Decision Support Systems for DoD health care, quality of life and family support organizations. The company's core competencies enable it to provide and maintain complex, mission-critical solutions on time, within budget and beyond expectations. Profitable since inception, DefenseWeb is a privately held company located in San Diego, Calif.