COLUMBIA, S.C. — We're getting to know helpers behind the scenes taking care of our military service members overseas.
The Red Cross of South Carolina has a mobile staff that's been abroad for two weeks now. News 19 learned more about the role they play.
Jonathon Upton of Fort Jackson, South Carolina, is headed to Kuwait.
"I am currently at Rhine Ordnance Barracks in Germany at the pre-deployment center," said Upton. "We have a team of three for SAF."
Upton is the Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) Regional Program Manager for the South Carolina Region of the Red Cross.
"We have five different places for deployments around the world and we have over 30 locations for OCONUS (outside continental U.S.) staff employees constantly oversees," said Upton. "Some of those locations consist of Korea, Germany, Italy, Japan. For the deployment sites, some of them are in the Middle East, some of them are in Europe."
His team serves military members in a unique way. Their role is to provide a stress-free zone overseas.
"If [military members] want to get out of their rooms, sit down, grab a cup of coffee, call their loved ones back home, sit on the couch. Somewhere we can provide that's inviting," said Upton.
This is a learning experience for Upton. It's his first deployment on the mobile staff.
He said coming from a military family, he wanted to give back.
"[The experience] gives me some background to know what may be going through or what they have gone through so when I get back stateside, I can relate closer to our vets, to our active-duty members, to our retirees and provide them a better service," said Upton.
Along with providing moral support, resiliency training, and classes to prevent stress, a large portion of his role involves casework. He helps relay critical information from the states to servicemembers abroad.
"Say a family member is ill, they can call our number and get a hold of a caseworker and we start the process of routing it to that soldier," he explained. "Making sure that command has a very well-informed decision-making tool in front of them where they can go, 'This is definitely a need for that solider to get back home to their loved ones'."
Possibly the most heartfelt lesson he's learning is the weight and burden of being away from the ones you love.
"I myself have four kids and I'm just now learning how it is for our service members," said Upton. "You start to realize how service members don't get the quality time they may want. I'm hoping to be able to provide something for them to fill that void for a short time."
Upton is set to be deployed for four months.
The Red Cross provides in-person support for troops on more than 100 military installations and deployment sites worldwide.
From the first day of enlistment, service members and their families are eligible for Red Cross assistance, from emergency communications and coping with deployment courses, to veterans' services and reconnection workshops.