Operation Purple Camp: Helping kids cope, laugh and learn while a parent is deployed

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dillon White
  • 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Down a dusty mountain road, a 100-year-old mining camp with wooden buildings springs back to life when a group of children arrive to focus their attention on learning and coping with separation from their deployed parents. 

Eighty children with ties to the military attended Operation Purple Camp, a week-long event and nation-wide project sponsored by the National Military Family Association. It was held at Montana's Camp Rotary, located near Monarch, Mont., July 9 to 13. 

The word "purple" in the camp's name is a term used to describe joint operations between sister services. 

Deployments do not only affect a servicemember, but the entire family dynamics as well. The camp's focus is to give that extra attention to the youth who are at home ... wondering how mom and/or dad are doing. Although each child's story is different, their reasons for being at camp are the same. 

"My dad got deployed and [camp] teaches me how to deal with stuff," said Little Warrior Ronald, 11. 

Campers came from across Washington, Montana and Arkansas. 

The Montana Air National Guard originally started a camp in the late 1980's to build pride in being a military child, and now it is a part of Operation Purple Camp, said Susan Fairhurst, Montana Air National Guard Wing Family Program Coordinator. Malmstrom Air Force Base became involved last year, and it is now open to active-duty, Guard and Reserve youth from all Department of Defense services. 

About 25 volunteers supervised the campers as they made new friends during their stay. 

"I love interacting with the kids and telling them what deployments are all about," said Senior Airman Adrian Ortiz, 341st Mission Support Squadron MPF employments technician and second-year camp counselor. 

"Along with being a counselor comes mentoring, and it's amazing to see how strong [the children] are and how they deal with their parents being gone," he said. "They're amazing, and are always anxious to talk about what their parents do and tell their story." 

The youth slept in cabins and were assigned a cabin parent. Each cabin parent had a junior counselor as an assistant and watched over about eight children. 

"It's some of the hardest work you'll ever enjoy," said Master Sgt. Ross Beyl, Montana Air National Guardsmen in vehicle maintenance. 

"I'm fortunate to have all three of my kids here; they really like it," the cabin parent said. "When you're here, you become part of a family." 

Campers participated in a variety of activities ranging from arts and crafts to physical team-building adventures. This year's camp theme was about the Roman Empire, so they each got the opportunity to make styrofoam shields wrapped in duct tape and tie-dyed togas to wear to a Friday night dance. Campers also competed in frantic three-legged races and smeared one another with foamy lather in chaotic shaving cream fights. Some of the campers made quick use of the cream as a cement to transform their usual hairdos into mohawks. 

Romanesque meals, which were rich in grains, were served daily by four members from the Air National Guard's 120th Services Squadron to give the campers a better idea of what life was like during the Roman Empire. 

Volunteers supervised a B.B. gun shooting range at the camp, which appeared to be the preferred activity for many of the campers. 

"My favorite activity here has been the B.B. gun shooting range. I got 76 out of 100 and made the top six," said Little Warrior Alec, 12. 

The B.B. gun activity began with a 30-minute gun safety class followed by five practice rounds at aluminum cans. The campers then got 10 shots at a paper target. The top six shooters faced-off at the end of the day to determine top female and male shooter awards. 

During a nature hike, campers learned how to survive being lost in the woods under the tutelage of Tech. Sgt. Bob Osier and Staff Sgt. Reagen Robertson, both continuation trainers in air crew life support with the Montana Air National Guard's 186th Fighter Squadron. 

In their official capacity, the sergeants teach survival continuation training to fighter pilots to maintain readiness. 

"The kids really like it; this is my third year and I've seen some repeats," Sergeant Osier said about the campers who attended in previous years. 

Sergeant Robertson showed the campers how to construct a shelter and how to make a bed out of pine bows. 

"The pine bows provide a cushion and trap body heat to help keep you warm," he said. 

The two sergeants led the group further along the hiking trail, and stopped at a bridge over a stream to demonstrate how to collect drinking water and purify it. 

"Never trust the water," Sergeant Osier said. "Always filter and purify it." 

The campers watched attentively as the air crew life support duo showed the campers how to use a hand operated water-filtration pump. 

The instructors suggested alternatives, like using a T-shirt or bandana to filter the water, then a 30-minute boil to purify it. 

Sergeant Osier told campers to take water from faster moving areas in a stream, because still water collects microbes and other contaminates that carry diseases. 

The campers learned that laying out a three foot by eight foot "V" on the ground with available materials will signal passing aircraft they are in distress. The two guardsmen also taught them the shape of an "X" means the person in distress is in need of medical attention as well. 

The campers also sampled edible wild strawberries on the return hike to camp.
"I enjoy giving kids the knowledge, so if they get lost they have the basic skills to survive," Sergeant Robertson said. 

Miners of days past came to this same camp in search of valuable minerals and wealth. The children that came to Camp Rotary seem to have found something that cannot be collected with a pick and shovel. What once was a place to mine, has become a place to find peace of mind.