Marriage Retreat builds resilience

Published Aug. 29, 2013
By Staff Sgt. Michael Means
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- The 336th Training Group chaplain's office hosted a marriage retreat for members of the group and their spouses at the Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg, Idaho, Aug. 23 to 25.

The purpose of the marriage retreat was to build resilient marriages by creating an environment where couples could focus on their relationships and bring attention to how they might be able to improve their marriage.

"This year, the retreat was a success," said Chaplain (Capt.) Jeremy Bastian, 336th Training Group. "Our goal was to create resilient marriages by giving Airmen the tools necessary to be successful at home and work."

Key topics discussed during the retreat were communication, family traditions and conflict resolution.

"The focus of the retreat was to remember the vow they took before God and their family that they promised to love and cherish their spouse," said Bastian. "Often, people forget the blessing of having a wonderful spouse and things they can do to be a blessing to their spouse."

Tech. Sgt. Bruno Lima, 66th Training Squadron military training leader, who attended the retreat with his wife, Staff Sgt. Jessica Portilla, 92nd Medical Support Squadron lab technician, said he recommends the marriage retreat to any couple to improve communication skills with their loved ones.

The resort offered various activities for couples after the Marriage Care curriculum such as geo-caching, disc golf, hiking, biking, corn-hole and more relationship building activities.

"The goal was to take what we discussed together as a group and have the couples break away to discuss how they can implement the tools in their marriage in practical ways," said Bastian.

Lima and Portilla chose to go to the historic sites around Silver Mountain when they broke away from group discussions.

"My favorite part of the retreat was the time I got to spend with my spouse focusing on our marriage," said Lima. "The retreat helped my wife and I be more deliberate about communicating with each other and we learned that we both have different methods of communicating and receiving information."

According to Bastian, two things he heard from couples who attended the retreat was that so often the Air Force sends couples and spouses apart, and the program offered is a great way to bring them back together. Also, the retreat was a great opportunity to spend time with their spouse, while emphasizing the importance of a healthy relationship because the Air Force values Airman and resiliency.