Airmail: Call 846-4240 or e-mail airmail@kirtland.af.mil

  • Published
  • By Col. Mike Duvall
  • 377th Air Base Wing commander
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  How can I talk to my children by phone while I'm deployed in Iraq?

I am deployed to Iraq. I can't make a morale phone call to my son or daughter through the Kirtland switch. 

They have AT&T phones with local Albuquerque numbers. The system doesn't allow these local numbers. The telephone help desk indicated they would work on it, but that was last December.

Thank you for contacting us about this issue. Our communications division personnel researched this and found that the telephone numbers you mentioned are in the Santa Fe dialing area, and are therefore classified as long distance calls. 

Kirtland switchboard operators cannot off-net incoming Defense Switched Network, or DSN, calls to numbers outside of the Albuquerque dialing area unless the caller provides calling card information for payment. Since we do not have a trouble ticket number or a specific date and time for this event, we cannot determine precisely what happened. 

However, it is normal procedure for callers to be informed when the numbers they are attempting to reach are outside of our calling area. Our operators often offer to transfer calls to the Army National Guard center in Santa Fe (DSN 867-8200), which has agreed to off-net incoming DSN calls to Santa Fe numbers during their normal operating hours.
Unfortunately, the ANG center is only open 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, which could make it difficult for the deployed caller. They also provide the caller with the ANG number so they may call it directly. 

Although there are no provisions to pay for incoming DSN calls, the deployed member's family members can enroll in the Hearts Apart Morale Call Program. A service member would need to bring a copy of their orders assigning them to Iraq, as well as provide us a DSN number for the deployed member, and we will enroll the family members in the program. 

The family members can then make a call from their home to the deployed member; however, ey would have to pay for a long distance call from Santa Fe to Albuquerque and the operator would connect to the deployed member. The family members would get one hour a week of call time.