Shaw Launches Marriage-Counseling Initiative

A community-based mentorship program started at Shaw AFB, S.C., to help airmen strengthen their marriages, according to a base release. Maj. Richard Holmes, the 20th Fighter Wing’s deputy chaplain, began the program in November by using a marriage-mentorship manual to train six couples to act as mentors. These couples have been married more than six years and will work with couples that plan to marry or have been married for five years or less, states the Feb. 18 release. “One of the goals of this is to build a healthy marriage community,” said Holmes, who set up a similar initiative on a trial basis when he was assigned to Barksdale AFB, La. “Some younger couples are giving up on their marriages before they’ve really given it a start,” he said. The program offers lessons, including how to love one’s spouse, remove barriers to listening, have positive communication, resolve conflict, and best deal with time apart during deployments. (Shaw report by A1C Diana Cossaboom) (See also Air Force Funds Relationship Consulting Study.)