DUGWAY PROVING GROUND, Utah -- More than 30 soldiers and their families attended a Strong Bonds Retreat Feb. 18 - 20 in Salt Lake City, sponsored by the Dugway Hope Chapel.

They stayed at the Radisson Salt Lake City Downtown hotel, participating in dual training for single soldiers and military families.

The Strong Bonds Single Soldier curriculum was entitled, Got Your Back / PICK, and is designed to help single soldiers establish relationship goals and gain essential skills that will help promote good choices when picking a partner for life.

The PICK (Premarital, Interpersonal, Choices and Knowledge) is a partner program applying the Relationship Attachment Module (RAM) to singles' romantic relationships. The RAM measures five areas of singles or family trust: know, rely, trust, commitment and touch.

The PICK program teaches two main points: how to avoid the Love Is Blind Syndrome by healthy pacing of the relationship, and learning five aspects of a partner that accurately predicts how they will be in a long-term relationship.

The Our Home Runs program was used, which focuses on family bonding and is built around a baseball theme. Parents are compared to coaches, and children to players. Using a practical RAM format, it is applied to family relationships, to strengthen how families communicate, respect, support and build family resilience, work, play and express affection and affirmation.

Course instructors were from the garrison and its Dugway Hope Chapel: Sgt. Victoria Pilson, religious support specialist; Spc. Nicolas Slater, religious support specialist fund clerk, and Chaplain (Maj.) Matthew L. Gibson.

An April retreat -- date not yet selected -- will be conducted on Dugway.