<p>Add satellite phones to internet and email. </p>
<p>You want your son to share information with you, both as a bonding experience and as a notice that he is okay and that you have no reason to worry for his well being. Even though he may not even realize it yet, he trusts you to keep that information priviledged. About the third time he gets an email from his great great aunt sally whom he has never met, stating that she was sure thankful he made it through that last storm unscathed, he will commence self censuring himself and you will be the loser.</p>
<p>Internet and email was not restricted in the last Gulf War as it was during the first. My son was intimately involved in the last one. His instant access to a satellite phone, a CNN reporter embedded in his very ready room, constant emails, and daily phone calls, combined with my constantly watching CNN, I knew more than I wanted to know. I actually did an interview with the embedded CNN reporter from a parent’s perspective. It was almost more than I could handle.</p>
<p>Cherish it. And guard it’s privacy.</p>