Navy Lt. Edward A. Waldron, deputy director, CREDO, Camp Pendleton said, “Several studies show that people who attend marriage and family classes have lower divorce rates.”

The programs listed below all offer marital counsel to military couples, informing the families of ways to keep their relationships healthy, and how they can cope with the challenges of military service.

Marine Corps Family Team Building, CREDO and PREP

Marine Corps Family Team Building is a resource hub comprised of several programs designed to educate military families and foster personal growth.

Marine Corps Order 1754.6A establishes marital programs across the Corps, including the Chaplains Religious Enrichment Development Operation and the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program.

CREDO is a training organization lead by Navy chaplains to provide high quality marriage, family, personal and weekend or week-long spiritual growth retreats.

“Studies show that spending a weekend focused on a problem has the impact of a year of counseling,” Waldron said.

PREP is a one day training course that teaches safe communication techniques and understanding of the fundamentals of belief systems. The course helps couples to understand when a conversation is headed out of control and addresses safer ways to discuss issues.

These classes are successful for several reasons according to Waldron.

People who are proactive in working on their relationship are equally proactive in taking care of their marriage problems. Learning about marriage is a life long program; everyone could add a few more tools to enhance their marriage.

“Marines would never think of going to war without training and preparation. Many of our marriages fail because we don’t put this kind of attention to detail into our lifelong marriage partner,” he said.

CREDO has seen a recent surge in the attendance of their marriage and family retreats. All of the programs have doubled in the last two years. Due to this demand, CREDO will offer more marriage and family retreats next year.

For more information about CREDO or PREP, contact your unit chaplain, family readiness officer or call (760) 725-4954.

MCCS Counseling Services

The Marine Corps Community Services’ Counseling Services, located in Bldg. 1122 on mainside, has several workshops and counselors available with priority given to active duty.

They accept walk-ins, for individuals or couples, from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 1 to 4 p.m. Friday. Counseling topics include combat stress, domestic violence, sexual assault, anger management, stress management, conflict resolution and communication.

Counselors are also available to assist command leadership with training and briefs such as suicide prevention, stress management, sexual assault prevention and domestic violence prevention. For more information, call (760) 725-9051.

Military OneSource

Military OneSource is a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week, toll-free information and referral telephone service available worldwide to active-duty, reserve, and National Guard military members and their families.

Military OneSource provides information ranging from everyday concerns to deployment-related issues.

Information on a variety of topics is available at the OneSource Web site, as well as access to consultants and educational materials such as booklets and CDs at no charge.

For more information, call 1-800-342-9647.

Family Readiness Officers

The purpose of a family readiness officer is to help provide resources and referrals to Marines and their families. They accumulate a wealth of information about programs to help with nearly every need a family may have.

 “The Family Readiness Program has become one of the most valuable programs to be established for the Marines and their families,” said Elizabeth M. Hancock, family readiness officer, Assault Amphibian School Battalion, Camp Pendleton.

“The program provides a continuous flow of information that was not normally available to Marines and their families. If a Marine and their family are not ready, then the unit will not be ready and will have to work harder to focus on the mission,” she added.

The FRO brings continuity for the unit. When a unit is deployed, the FRO remains behind to be a constant link between the Marines and families. The deploying Marines can have peace-of-mind in knowing there is someone back home available to answer their families’ questions.

The family members are also relieved to have a contact they can reach at any time to help them get the answers they need when they are not able to contact their Marine.

“We are here to continuously educate our Marines and family members about what programs and resources are out there. This is what will have our units mission ready,” Hancock said.

Chaplains

Unit chaplains are good advisors who offer a listening ear and information resources for relationship enriching programs.

“Marines are good at suppressing emotions,” Leenerts said. “On the battlefield they have to be. Emotions are always expressed in some way, whether it be anger, rage, alcohol. It always comes up.

“Anything said to me is confidential. I build a rapport with the family so they feel comfortable talking to me. Then I can point them in the right direction. It’s a process,” he added.

Chaplains also offer a faith element, which is something that other services are not able to do by law.

They offer premarital counseling for couples who are considering marriage, as well.

When struggling with their marriages, Marines and their spouses have several paths to assist them in, hopefully, mending their problems.

Married Marines and soon-to-be married Marines should be aware that these programs are available to them and that they can use them regardless of where they are at in their relationship.

These programs strive to help military families, but ultimately, they are only as successful as the desire and effort put into them by the attendants.