Hurlburt chapel host resiliency date night for Air Commandos

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrea Posey
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla., -- --  The 1st Special Operations Wing is the most heavily deployed wing in the Air Force, which can cause many stressors in Airmen’s lives and their relationships with their significant others.

The 1st SOW Chaplain Corps has begun a new program called the Marriage & Family Resiliency Program to support Airmen and their family members by helping them develop personal strengths and protective factors to guard their relationships.

“Statistics reveal the health and stability of marriages and families are at great risk in our nation,” said Capt. James Galyon, chaplain with the 1st SOW Chaplain Corps. “Research indicates many military marriages fall apart within two years after a spouse has been deployed to a combat location, as reintegration tends to place additional stressors and unique strains on marriages and families.”

Family is part of the Four Pillars of Resiliency, an Air Force initiative that is designed to provide balance to Airmen’s lives. These pillars consist of social and family, physical, mental and emotional, and spiritual which are added together to create a checklist that can help drive Airmen to success.

The Chaplain Corps kicked off the first event for the resiliency program by hosting a “Rekindling the Romance Date Night,” at the Hilton Sandestin in Miramar Beach, Fla., July 28. Through a $2.5 million contract with Live the Life Ministry, the chapel will continue to host resiliency retreats such as date nights, marriage retreats, family retreats, and one-on-one parent-child retreats every month over the next year.

“Some people have the idea that once you get married, there is no reason to date anymore,” Galyon said. “However, a relationship must be tended, and the romance has to be rekindled time and time again. Married couples need time to date each other - time away from work, kids and all the ordinary stressors [to have] time to connect.”

During the event, Air Commandos were treated to dinner, competed in trivia games for prizes and practiced enhancing their communication and connection.

For Staff Sgt. Jemarco Brooks, NCO in charge of facilities management from the 1st SOW Chaplain Corps, who participated in the date night with his wife, Jessica, the event went over very well and had a lot of good information.

“My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it [and] are looking forward to the next event,” Brooks said. “Working at the chapel, I've been through a training course to give this [resiliency] class, but it feels different being on the receiving end.”

One highlight for the Brooks couple was participating in the communication and connection exercise.

Couples were given a card called “The Daily Temperature Reading” which is a step-by-step guide to positive communication with your spouse. The card outlines communication suggestions such as telling each other aspects they appreciate about each other, asking about their wishes, hopes, and dreams, giving each other new information about their lives, clearing up any misunderstandings and giving each other compliments when they request for change in behavior.

It is through exercises such as these, Galyon believes Airmen will gain the skills necessary to help them positively adapt to significant stressors and effectively manage adversity.

“Ultimately, this program helps couples and families to lovingly strengthen their relationships and respectfully cultivate trust in order that their families not only remain intact, but engage in emotionally healthy ways,” he said. “The overarching goal of the program is to reduce the distress experienced by military families and to fortify family resilience, thereby creating an environment for our Airmen and their families to thrive.”

Galyon says with support from leadership, at the wing and squadron levels, these events will generate the framework for Airmen and their families to pause and work on their relationships because at the end of the day, and at the end of one’s Air Force career, everyone goes home to family.

“Too often we get caught in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and fail to plan times for togetherness - this helps couples to plan such times,” he said. “Strong families do nothing but strengthen our Airmen, and enable them to persevere through the greatest of difficulties.”

The Chaplain Corps has more resiliency events planned for the rest of the year such as another date night Aug. 26 and Adventures in Marriage Weekend Retreats Aug. 19-21 and Sept. 16-18. More events are scheduled to take place in the future as the Marriage and Family Resiliency Program has been funded for a five-year period.

For Airmen interested in participating in these events call the Hurlburt Field Chapel at (850) 884-7795.