Capt. Jayme Hansen won't be able to tuck in his two children each night while he's on his yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

But that doesn't mean the Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier can't read to them.

Hansen, who left April 2 with the 62nd Medical Brigade, took time at the United Service Organization's McChord Center to record a video of himself reading a handful of books for his 7-year-old son, Jayson, and his 4-year-old daughter, Nicole.

"They've never seen me gone this long," said Hansen, a Battle Lake, Minn. native who now lives in University Place.

It's all part of the USO's United Through Reading program, which enables servicemembers to sit down in a room at the USO and record a DVD of themselves reading a book to their children. The USO then sends the DVD and a copy of the book - at no cost to the servicemember - to their family within the first few weeks of their departure.

"It's going to be kind of a nice surprise for them," Hansen, 38, said while holding a copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

The program has been going strong at the McChord USO for nearly three years, and the center shipped nearly 500 book and DVD packages to families last year, said Tracye Kakely, McChord USO manager.

"It's very popular, and we've had quite an increase in usage," she said.

The key to making the program work, Kakely said, is servicemembers scheduling time to record the DVD before leaving. During the April 2 deployment, the list was filled to capacity as soldiers rotated in and out of the quaint room reserved for reading
Hansen, who will keep in touch with his family during the deployment through e-mail and Skype, said he wanted to make the DVD as just one more way to connect.

"It's great ... it allows them to keep up on their reading and gives me a quiet moment in time to reflect," he said. "This is just another great bonus offer given to us through the USO."

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