Soldiers of the Orangeburg 218th Brigade Company B/163rd Battalion will be able to connect verbally and visually with their loved ones back home during an 18-month tour of duty in Afghanistan thanks to the generosity of an Irmo-based global communications business.

Dr. Alonzo Johnson, president/CEO of Irmo-based Agape Health Services and pastor of Universal Outreach Church, Church of God in Christ and Bowman Temple Church, Wednesday presented soldiers two GLOBALINK VideoPhones to enable them to speak to and see their family members in real time.

“When we found out this unit was leaving to go to Afghanistan ... we thought about what it was that we could do .. to try to connect with you as well as with your families out here,” Johnson said. “These digital phones will travel with you wherever you go ... You will not only be able to talk to your family members, you will see them. This is real time.”

One phone will be taken with the soldiers to Afghanistan while the other will stay at the National Guard Armory on Stonewall Jackson Boulevard for family members to access at designated times. The phone will be made available to all families who are at a traveling distance from the armory. The Family Support Group network will assist families with access to the phone.

“We want to say to you that we appreciate what you are doing for the country and that our prayers are with you,” Johnson said. “This is a small thing we can do in order to help you to do what you do.”

All calls will be locally charged, and the phones will be at no cost to the National Guard. National Guard officials expressed preliminary technical concerns and the Guard’s capabilities in using the phone service.

The digital phone service or Voice over Internet Protocol uses the existing high speed Internet connection (broadband) by turning voice into data and sending it over the Internet. The phone is a product of 5LINX Enterprises Inc., headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. The company has donated about 250 of the phones to troops in Afghanistan.

Johnson said the church is using the product as a fund-raiser, and he said he has used the phone in his personal business dealings.

Commander Wood expressed his appreciation for the videophone donation.

“This will give an extra, added value for our morale, welfare, recreation.” Wood said. “It is an extra link we have for troops to make contact with their families. We will have e-mail capabilities, but this is an extra to that. It is a morale booster, and it will impact us tremendously.”

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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