As you know – we have just returned from some well earned block leave after the Battalion’s recent deployment to Iraq, and are in the process of re-forming our team for deployment in support of contingency operations sometime next spring.

To help keep you informed, we recently established a recorded message that is regularly updated and can be heard by dialing:

Your Marines, and Sailors are excited to be back to work – building upon their Infantry skills, and forming that tight brotherhood so important to Marine combat units. We’ll be training locally for the next few months and than the Battalion will conduct some mountain training in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. You can anticipate them having some time off around the end of the year holidays.

For our over 400 spouses - our Battalion has been asked to participate in the Family Readiness Assessment Tool, Spouse Assets Inventory, or FRAT / SAI.

This tool will help me (as the Commanding Officer) assess the climate of our families and in identifying where our greatest needs lie. It (the tool) accomplishes this by asking questions regarding such categories as financial, morale support, unit support, community support, etc…

Spouses - please participate – your participation is the key to helping our unit get better at Family Readiness! Our Battalion is not just comprised of the over 1200 Marines and Sailors who fill it ranks – you (over 400 spouses and 200 children) are also a huge part of our family! Please contact our Family Readiness Officer, Mrs. Sebrina King at sebrina.king@usmc.mil for more information. Thank you in advance for your participation.