‘War Dogs’ leadership prepares families for deployment

Twentynine Palms -- TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - The Marines, sailors and family members of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment attended a pre-deployment brief held by the 2/7 Family Readiness Officer and battalion leadership at building 1707, March 2, 2016.

The FRO and the battalion leadership hold pre-deployment briefs to provide valuable information on the different base resources such as D-Stress and Families OverComing Under Stress to the family members of Marines and sailors.

“This brief is an important tool we use to pass valuable information to the families of the Marines,” said Diane Durden, family readiness officer, 2/7. “We give the brief every time we are about to deploy because we often have new families and we want to make sure they know [as much as possible]. The more seasoned families also learn about new resources.”

The families were given information on different programs that are available at the Combat Center that can help alleviate any problems before the unit deploys.

“The tools that we give these families help them deal with having their spouses gone for such a long time,” Durden said. “Having people to rely-on in times like these is one of the most important resources that we can provide these families, and these briefs give them that resource.”

The brief gave the battalion’s commanding officer the opportunity to address the battalion’s family members and inform them about what training the battalion will be doing in the weeks ahead.

“The Marines are 99 percent ready for this deployment,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Steele, commanding officer, 2/7. “I am going to make sure that we are completely ready for anything. We want all the families of the battalion to know why their Marines are training so often while we are approaching a deployment, and give them some insight on what their Marines will be doing while they are deployed.”