Marines, Sailors, Families, and Friends,
Keeping Faith with our Marines, Sailors, and their families is a key priority of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. As I stated in my commander’s guidance - total fitness, to include time with family and friends, is a priority for this battalion. It provides the complete balance and perspective on everything we do. Our mission requires long hours away so time for family and friends must be incorporated into our plans to ensure it is quality time.
Family Readiness is of the utmost importance and is a function of command. Our battalion is blessed to have an outstanding Deployment Readiness Coordinator (DRC), Ms. Toni Ramirez. A wife and mother to active duty Marines, she intuitively understands the demands of life in service to our Nation. She is one of my primary Staff Officers and diligently coordinates our battalion’s family readiness program. Our Deployment Readiness Program includes all hands, not just those that are married, and their family, close friends and loved ones.
Each of us has a role to play within this program. The DRC is assisted by family readiness assistants and volunteers. She is a key member of the Command Team which is comprised of my wife, Leah; the Executive Officer; the Sergeant Major; and our Command Team Advisor.
There is no more important resource to the success of our battalion than the contribution of individual Marines and Sailors. Each of us sustains our ability to make these contributions only through the support we receive from those we care about—our families and friends. A family's support, in turn, is highly dependent on how ready it is to deal with the ongoing challenges of military life.
Our command will continue to have a viable Family Readiness Program that supports our Marines and Sailors as they maintain their families' readiness. Family readiness events will be placed on our units training schedule as they are as important as any other training in preparation for deployment. Information will be disseminated via monthly newsletters, the E-Marine Website, and e-mails from Toni.
Semper Fidelis,
Edward A. Donovan
LtCol USMC