For 10 months, Amber Cook and Marcus McDaniel waited anxiously for their father to come back from his tour of duty in Iraq with the Army National Guard. Although Sgt. 1st Class Johnny McDaniel returned safely in early November, his children still bitterly recall his absence from their daily lives in New Jersey.

“I was angry because he was away from home,” said Marcus, 9, who missed playing video games and football with his dad. Marcus was the only student in his elementary school to have a parent who was deployed in the armed forces.

Amber, 16, said she felt angry, too, but she participated in a teen group at the Teaneck Armory where she shared activities and trips with other teens who have or had a relative in Iraq serving with the National Guard.

Kids with a parent deployed in the National Guard or Reserve don’t live on bases and usually don’t have easy access to the support programs offered for traditional military families. They can feel very isolated.

“You need to know more people in the same situation,” said Amber, who studies cosmetology at Bergen County Technical High School in Hackensack, N.J. At school, she didn’t know any other students who had a deployed parent.

Operation: Military Kids is stepping into that void for kids like Amber and Marcus. OMK, a national program launched in March 2004, targets youths who have a parent deployed in the Army National Guard or Reserve. The program helps kids age 5 to 19 whose families have become “suddenly military” find support in their local communities.

According to the Department of Defense, 128,860 Army National Guard and Reserve troops were on active duty at the end of October.

Darrin Allen, national OMK director, said the program has reached about 3,000 youths since its inception. “Our goal is to build local community support for these families,” he said. “We are bringing resources together to support families both during and after deployment.”

OMK is a partnership among the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Army Youth Development Project (www.usda-army-ydp.org/omk/), National 4–H Headquarters, Army Child and Youth Services, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the American Legion. Thirty-four states now participate in the program.

The programs offered vary by state. Ohio OMK, which started in April, organizes camps for children who have a deployed parent, using 4-H campsites and counselors. Ohio OMK also sends a mobile technology lab to state armories and community gatherings to help kids stay connected with parents stationed overseas. It also gives out “Hero Packs,” which are stuffed full of toys and activities chosen by military kids, and organizes “Speak Out for Military Kids” events where military teens visit schools and community groups to raise awareness about the special needs of military kids.

“The thing that comes out most is that the kids find they’re not alone,” said Dr. Theresa Ferrari, Ohio 4-H military liaison. She said that about 300 kids had been involved in Ohio OMK-sponsored activities and events since its inception.

California OMK, which also started in April, offers camps and outreach to National Guard and Reserve youth, too. Although it is relatively new, Chanda Gonzalez, California OMK program director, said, “We have families calling now who want to be part of the program.” She said that the program plans to involve 2,000 youths statewide next year.

In October, New Jersey received a one-year renewable $50,000 grant from the USDA/Army Youth Development Project to become part of Operation: Military Kids. New Jersey OMK organizers plan to offer “Speak Out for Military Kids” programs, summer youth and family camps, and other events.

At the end of October, 2,741 Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers were called to active duty in New Jersey, according to Department of Defense statistics. Lt. Col. Henri R. Schepens, who heads the community services branch of the N.J. Army Reserve National Guard, estimates that about 30 percent of them have children.

Schepens said that he welcomes OMK in New Jersey because it will provide more people and resources to help children who have a deployed parent.

But he said the greatest need that “suddenly military” families have is child care. He’s looking for a simple program that matches teens trained in child care with families in need. “A lot of families have had to go from full-time to part-time work, and they’re facing financial pressures,” Schepens said.

Gonzalez, the California OMK project director, agrees that there is a need for child care. OMK in California helps families in the Guard or Reserve receive reimbursement for eligible child care through the Army’s Operation: Military Childcare and refers families to the 4-H after-school programs in California.

Ferrari, the Ohio 4–H military liaison, believes the need for child care in National Guard and Reserve families with a deployed parent is probably universal, and a problem that OMK can help solve.

“One of OMK’s goals is to get people to understand the situation and give them tangible ways to help,” Ferrari said. “We have to involve local communities by pulling at their heartstrings.”

Neither the National Guard nor Reserve provides OMK with the names of “suddenly military” families, so making sure these families are aware of OMK’s existence and its ability to help is as important as alerting the community to the needs of the families.

New Jersey OMK plans to hold a kickoff celebration next spring to inform National Guard and Reserve families about OMK programs and local communities about the needs of military youths in their midst.

“We’re looking to support youth of all ages who have a deployed parent with whatever they need,” said Gloria Kraft, co-project director of the New Jersey OMK.