I recently had a delightful group of women over for Dessert & Coffee in my home. The group was diverse. Fifty percent were married to their sailor under two years. The remainder were married five or more years. The 'new wives' married their sailor on short notice prior to an upcoming deployment. They did not have the big dream wedding and a honeymoon was out of the question.

But what really left me pondering is the lack of information these young wives received, either from their sailor, Department of the Navy or Department of Defense. We laughed as we talked about being afraid to drive on base without our sailor present, about not knowing if we could work out at the base fitness center, about the benefits or resources let alone what an FFSC or Ombudsman might be. Oh, and don't get started on all the military acronyms...

As we talked about becoming acclimated to military life I was again left pondering. We live in the 21st Century; the era of technology. When a sailor (or any service member) marries he changes his official record (for emergency contact and to trigger the higher BAH). In this age of computer technology why doesn't that very change to the service member's record automatically generate a "New Spouse Information Packet?" This packet could contain the most basic of information (like base access) as well as customs, protocols, resources (like the FFSC and Ombudsman) for the new spouse.

Ok, maybe that is not cost effective. But every spouse also receives a dependent ID. Could the ID process include a mandatory 30-minute orientation for new spouses (AND their service member)?

Maybe I am off on this idea...perhaps it is not necessary. What do you think? Would this have been helpful to you? Did you have misconceptions or misinformation that you now laugh at? Maybe you're a new spouse - would you find this 'packet' helpful? Sound off...