SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Strong and healthy relationships are what can sustain people through the most challenging times, and for Airmen, one of those times is the deployment process. To help Airmen and their loved ones, Air Force Reserve Command’s Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program has rolled out five new relationship building courses that are designed for all types of relationships.
Yellow Ribbon Program is a Department of Defense effort and focuses on helping maintain resiliency during all stages of deployment through providing members and their families with essential resources during the pre-deployment phase, a level of stability and support during deployment and successful re-integration techniques after the deployment cycle ends.
“The relationship classes that the chaplains are providing give practical advice and tools to strengthen the relationships in our lives,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Matthew Wilson, 310th Space Wing, Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. “Military life does place a strain on relationships, but if we are intentionally strengthening those relationships through our daily behaviors, then our relationships can do more than just “survive”. We can thrive as we grow and develop even with the challenges of military life.”
Yellow Ribbon’s senior chaplain, Maj. Chad Cooper emphasizes the importance of relationships, as they impact every part of people’s daily lives.
“Relationships are the key to our well-being,” Cooper said. “When things are challenging in our relationships it effects all aspects of our life, from work performance, outlook on life and our overall health.”
The five new classes designed by the Chaplain Corps are Caring Connections: Stories of Strength and Healing, Conflict to Connection: The Role Personality-Types Play in Relationships, Crucial Conversations, Principles for Lasting Love and Rich Relationships.
Lt. Col. Timothy Kerrigan, a Yellow Ribbon attendee from the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, and his wife attended one of the new classes, Crucial Conversations, which focuses on strengthening your communication skills, which have a major impact on how one interacts and gets along with others. The class helps increase your understanding of one’s conflict patterns. It also provides tools for preventing conflicts, reducing negative emotions, dealing with the negative interactions one has with other people and learning how to have fewer conflicts. Overall, it will help the participant have more effective communication with anyone.
“My wife and I liked the Crucial Conversation break-out a lot,” said Kerrigan. “It provided concrete tools and ideas on how to initiate and participate in meaningful dialogue. These tools can help make real changes and bust unhealthy patterns.”
Another class, Caring Connections uses real-life stories of four individuals who successfully navigated deployment and military challenges. The facilitators encourage attendees to discuss and normalize common stresses, identify signs of stress and learn healthy coping strategies. Participants will explore strengths of various caring communities including friends and family. Discussion will include how communities of support both prevent problems from escalating and provide vital assistance while managing change. The class highlights how seeking support is a sign of courage and strength. More than anything, this class drives home that no military member or their loved ones are ever alone.
“Change can be stressful,” said Cooper. “Deployment and reintegration may create a lot of change for individuals and their loved ones. The Caring Connection class addresses personal and relational stresses that may arise before, during and after a deployment.”
Conflict to Connection, an additional new class, is designed to transform your relationships by helping you understand how different personality types influence such things as communication, emotional dynamic and conflict resolution with other people
“During this course you’ll not only learn your personality type (using an animal metaphor), but how it and the personality of your friends, family, and coworkers interact with one another,” said Cooper. “This class will help you know what to expect from your relationships, how to better connect, how to improve communication and more.”
Using the groundbreaking insights from the New York Times bestselling book “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work,” the Principles of Lasting Love class is designed to help those seeking to deepen their connection, enhance communication and fortify the foundation of their relationship
“This class will not only offer countermeasures to harmful behaviors,” said Cooper. “It will also teach about life-changing concepts such as building fondness and admiration, solving solvable problems and overcoming gridlock—all of which will help ensure attendees leave with new tools that will help them have deeper and long-lasting relationships.”
The final class, Rich Relationships, provides participants with practical insights and actionable strategies for enhancing their relationships across the board.
“Whether it's your family, friends, romantic partner or colleagues, you'll learn valuable tips and tricks to foster trust, communication and understanding,” said Cooper. You will learn how to enrich your relationships, create a more harmonious environment and ultimately lead a happier and more connected life.”
Although these classes are taught by chaplains, they are not teaching from a spiritual perspective and people from all walks of life are encouraged and welcomed to attend.
“These classes are developed to be universal,” said Cooper. “While the Chaplain Corps is equipped to assist people on their religion and spiritual journeys, we are also excited to assist in increasing the well-being and resiliency in all people, religious, non-religious and everyone in between. As chaplains we care about all people, and we will meet them where they are at in their lives.”
Relationship classes often have the stigma of being solely focused on couples, but these new classes are created for all types of relationships dynamics.
“These courses have been intentionally designed to help couples as well as those that are single,” said Cooper. “The ideas and skills presented in the classes will be beneficial in improving an attendee’s many types of relationships, including their relationships with their spouse, significant other, best friend, coworker or children.”
Senior Airman Nylia Howell, a Yellow Ribbon attendee from the 910th AW, appreciated the honesty from the chaplain and how well the class was geared toward relatability for all.
“The topics discussed were not just used for couples, the chaplain made it feel relatable to everyone,” said Howell. “I learned how to control my reactions and not letting one thing lead to another. Everyone has the power to stop the cycle.”
These relationship classes are one of the many significant ways the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program supports military members and their loved ones in all stages of the deployment cycle.