Everyone in the family is affected by a deployment in their own unique way. Even those who have gone through a deployment before will find this one different because it’s at a different time in their life, a different set of circumstances. Here are a few tips to help your family prepare for the goodbye and the separation:

• Include everyone. Person deploying - spend time with your spouse and each child individually so you can answer each other’s questions and say your own individual goodbyes.

• Talk about how you will communicate during the deployment to keep your relationship strong – be honest and flexible (writing every day may or may not work out to be a promise you can keep). Find out if you can send e-mail, whether the e-mail account or computer is private, and agree on what kinds of things you don’t want to talk about via e-mail..

• Get the names of other spouses in the unit. That’s who will have access to information you need and they’ll understand what you are going through. While you'll always have your family and friends to support you, they won't have the same access to information or have the same understanding of what you are going through as the other spouses in the direct unit will.

• If you have children, it's really important to let them participate in the preparation, saying goodbye, and throughout the deployment. They have all the same fears and anxieties about this separation.