Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) are staying connected with their families while deployed with United Through Reading.

United Through Reading offers deployed military personnel the opportunity to bond with their children through video-recordings of themselves reading out loud.

"It's giving me the opportunity to connect to my little one back home," said Lt. j.g. Dennis Barrett, Howard's training officer. "Doing my recording was an awesome experience. I can't wait for my wife to play it for her so that they can both hear my voice."

United Through Reading reports that 88 percent of participants receiving recordings from their deployed service members say the program helps increase the connectedness to their deployed loved one, while 90 percent of deployed service members using the program says it helps reduce personal stress while deployed.

"United Through Reading is a really important tool in keeping families connected, so that our kids remember who we are and what we sound like," said Lt. j.g. Mark Witherspoon, Howard's assistant operations officer. "This is my seventh deployment, though my first as a husband and father. Although my daughter is only one year old and doesn't read books by herself yet, it allows me to have story time with her every Friday night."

Howard is currently on an underway period in the 7th fleet area of operations. The U.S. Navy has patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific routinely for more than 70 years promoting regional peace and security.

For more information about the United Through Reading program, visit www.unitedthroughreading.org.

For more stories and pictures from USS Howard, visit www.facebook.com/USSHOWARD83.

For more information, visit https://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.