FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Feb. 4, 2016) -- While the Army's strength is sometimes measured by Soldiers' tactical proficiency, other times that strength is measured by the love and care that Soldiers and their Families show one another.
Twenty couples from 10th Combat Aviation Brigade attended a retreat at the Main Post Chapel Jan. 28-29, which sought to help Soldiers and spouses strengthen their marriage and help to facilitate communication.
According to its website, while the Army Strong Bonds program helps to build "individual resiliency by strengthening the Army Family," and increase individual Soldier and Family Member readiness through relationship education and skills training, the retreat supplements attendees with materials not available through Strong Bonds.
The purpose of the seminar was to build stronger Army Families, and it focused on both junior enlisted and senior leaders, said Chaplain (Maj.) Charles Scott, the 10th CAB chaplain.
"Resilient couples and Families are the most important reasons to do something like this," he said. "Strong marriage is important in any occupation, but it's especially important in the military because of the stresses of deployments and separation."
Helping Soldiers to build a stronger foundation for their personal relationships enhances their lives and helps to meet the Army's warfighting objectives.
"If Soldiers are not secure in their home relationships, they cannot focus on their jobs at work," Scott said.
Regardless of how strong a relationship may be, there are issues couples inevitably face that may have an impact in their home lives as well as how they perform at work. Helping couples to identify underlying issues in their relationships translates into preventing issues from taking place in the future, Scott said.
"This provides security and a means for them to address the issues that perhaps they don't talk about," he said. "Just because they don't talk about it doesn't mean that it goes away, and oftentimes, it will come up at the worst possible time -- like when Soldiers are deployed.
"That's when you don't want Soldiers to be going through difficult times," he added.
To help facilitate discussions on topics such as the differences in the way women and men think, communication styles and expectations, Scott used DVDs and handouts to help participants relate to the materials. While the retreat focused on serious topics, it also used humor to get viewers' attention -- something Scott said helped to relax the audience.
"Many times, unintendedly, when you mention 'training,' it puts people off," Scott said. "When the training is enjoyable and when couples can react humorously to serious situations, it (engages) them and there is value to the training."
Although the DVD and training sessions are faith-based, Scott said the issues are common among couples of all faiths and the training uses techniques from which anyone can learn.
"It's not just for religious couples," he said. "He presents it in a way that couples don't feel like they are being preached to."
Among the participants at the event were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Herbert Addison and his wife, Shanice. An aviation safety officer, Addison said he decided to come to the event because he knew his wife enjoyed attending marriage retreats and he wanted to spend time with her.
"I know from previous retreats that my wife really liked stuff like this, so it wasn't just a day off. It was a day to bond with my wife," he said.
The Addisons, who have been married more than a decade and have gone through three deployments, said they believe retreats like these can help couples recognize that the issues they face aren't unique to just their relationship. Through talking to other couples as well engaging in group activities, attendees are encouraged to overcome their challenges, Shanice Addison said.
In fact, while younger couples are often the target audience of marriage retreats, Scott said he kept couples like the Addisons in mind when putting the program together.
Because he is a leader, Addison said he often has fewer opportunities to get away from his daily duties to attend events that help enhance his personal life. By holding the retreat locally, Scott hoped to give more seasoned couples with responsibilities the ability to attend, he said.
"My goal was to have it available to both junior enlisted Soldiers and leaders," Scott said. "It's often the younger couples who are most stressed, but leaders often find it more difficult to just go away to a retreat.
"By offering it here on post, couples can go back home and not have to take their kids out of school and take days off to travel," he added.
Whether couples are new to the Army or more seasoned, Scott hopes the event helps to create a more robust fighting force through strengthening the Army Family.
"I think (events like these) are absolutely critical," he said. "The strength of the Army is through its Family."
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