New family systems improves link to Marines

[unhappycamper]

New family systems improves link to Marines
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 28, 2009 8:08:40 EST

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The message on Gail Kroger’s cell phone said her son was home from Afghanistan.

A plane carrying her son, Pvt. Mike Spurlin, and about 150 other Marines had landed at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, a 45-minute drive from Camp Lejeune, where spouses, children, families and friends had gathered for the Nov. 17 homecoming.

Kroger’s voicemail was courtesy of the Corps’ fledgling family readiness program, just a simple heads-up that Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, was back in the U.S. after spending the last six months at war.

Throughout the deployment, 2/8 families relied on the readiness program to serve as a link to their loved ones.

In 2007, Corps officials recognized its family readiness programs lacked personnel and funding and relied too heavily on volunteers. Commandant Gen. James Conway responded by earmarking $30 million. Though it has received mixed reviews, the program aims to give families a full-time, dedicated person to do a job typically left to volunteers.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/11/marine_family_readiness_112809w/