JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When service members deploy, there are more than a few unknowns. More than 100 Navy reservists that will soon deploy along with their families got some very important training Saturday morning about the resources available to them while they are away.
Organizers said that this is a great resource for the men and women in the reserves to have, so that when they do deploy they're ready. They're getting training on everything from finances and how to budget money while you're away to books for children.
A book called "Over There" helps kids deal with their mother, father, brother, or sister being deployed.
"It gives them a lifeline as to where the resources are when they are gone and come across a problem they don't know how to deal with," Senior Chief Agustin Vives said.
Over 100 Navy reservists and their families gathered for the deployment readiness training. The all-day class showed the reservists and their families how to find resources they might need while they're away.
"Family readiness is the cornerstone to the war fighters being prepared for whatever lies ahead of them," said Matthew Davis, Yellow Ribbon coordinator Navy Region Southeast. "You can't do your job if you've got your mind on your family that's got issues going on. We're not going to solve all of that, but we're going to start the process."
"We give them better tools and skills to deal with the stressors and the difficulties of family members who are deployed away from home for up to a year or more," Vives said.
Topics ranged from how to report for deployment, how to manage finances while away and how to deal with a deployment injury. They also wanted to stress the importance of the family unit as a whole.
"We want to make sure the family is intact," Davis said. "You start out by doing it by providing the family with family readiness training and ensure the family is knowing the importance -- that regardless of the family separation they know the importance of the family as a whole."
The training is mandatory for the reservists before they deploy overseas to serve the United States of America. News4Jax has learned that a couple of folks who were in training Saturday will be deploying Sunday.