Free Workshop Provides Marriage Enrichment Techniques to Soldiers

February 3, 2010
Courtesy of North Dakota National Guard
Callaway, MN, United States

The North Dakota National Guard will host a Marriage Relationship Enrichment weekend Feb. 5 - 7 at the Maplelag Resort in Callaway, MN. The free workshop for Soldiers, Airmen and their spouses provides tools aimed to enrich lives and improve and maintain relationships.
 
The Marriage Relationship Enrichment program helps couples, and ultimately Families, be strong and stay strong through life’s stressors. The workshop works to identify those stressors and provides basic tools to help couples constructively communicate so that they can address the real issue or concern at hand.
 
It uses the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, or PREP, “which has been empirically proven to make a tremendous impact on military Families,” according to Chaplain (Major) David Johnson. “The retreat is designed to assist couples with effective communication skills and tools.”
 
About 135 couples have attended the Marriage Relationship Enrichment program each year since it began in July 2005. Three events have been offered annually in various locations, including Fargo, Bismarck, Medora and Detroit Lakes, MN. This weekend’s session has 29 couples registered to attend.
 
Media are welcome to attend portions of the event. Please call Chaplain (Colonel) William Ziegler at 701-261-4958 to coordinate times. Members of the North Dakota National Guard’s Office of the Chaplain will be available for interviews on site or via phone.
 
WHAT: North Dakota National Guard Marriage Relationship Enrichment

WHEN: Friday evening, Feb. 5, through Sunday, Feb. 7

WHERE: Maplelag Resort, 30501 Maplelag Road, Callaway, MN

WHY: To get an “insider look” at part of the North Dakota National Guard reintegration activities

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on America, the North Dakota National Guard has mobilized more than 3,500 Soldiers and more than 1,800 Airmen in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Currently, about 800 North Dakota Guard members are serving overseas.  With a total force of about 4,400 Soldiers and Airmen, sufficient forces remain in the state for emergency response and homeland defense.