Pre-Deployment Briefings (PDB)
How they can help spouses.
by Rosemary O’Brien
If your spouse is deploying, you might want to check out a pre-deployment briefing. Here is what to expect if you attend.
Pre-deployment briefings are a way for the deploying unit to "take care of business,” according to Carrie Costantini, wife of Col. William R. Costantini, USMC, and mother of Lance Cpl. Zachary Costantini, currently stationed at Quantico MCB. According to the Leaders Guide To Managing Marines In Distress, “If Marines are not confident that their wives and family are cared for and personal affairs are in order, then Marines will not be fully ready to contribute to the unit and cannot be considered mission ready or reliable.”
According to Nicole Cummings, the wife of an Army Captain currently assigned to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, the PDB can be helpful, but not always. It all hinges on the importance the Commander places on the briefing and how well he or she stresses attendance to his soldiers and their families. PDB’s are not mandatory, but for younger, less experienced military families, they may provide a wealth of information to those who have never experienced a deployment. Here you will learn who is in charge and how to find them if you need them. You will learn about the family readiness group, what you need to get in order before the deployment, and the do’s and don’ts of OPSEC. This is by no means a complete list of subjects that come up in a PDB. Basically it is a huge checklist.
Your PDB will also include information about the Rear Detachment; lovingly referred to as the “Rear D.” The Rear D is designed to facilitate communication between the Theater (overseas operations) and the home Post. These are the people who stay behind for one reason or another and can pass along information such as unit movement, emergency information, and notification of injury. As the ones in charge of the FRG, they do their best to try to help support the families of the deployed service members.
You can come out of a PDB with an overwhelming amount of information. “Quite frankly, I'd rather have too much information and not need it than too little information and need it desperately,” says Sonya Mooneyham, wife of a Lt. Col in the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, N.C. She also reminds us that if you cannot use the information yourself, you may be able to pass it on to another spouse who does need it.
Moreover, it is a great opportunity to network with other wives. Sonya did not want to go to the last PDB, but is glad she did. “I reconnected with someone from a previous duty station,” she said. “We've become better friends and she's been a source of strength and laughs during this deployment.”
A few acronyms to know:
PDB – pre-deployment brief
TAD – temporary additional duty (Navy)
FRG – family readiness group
OPSEC – operation security