I think one of the most beneficial events a battalion can put together is one that prepares Soldiers and Families for upcoming separations. In our unit, we've tweaked the traditional Deployment Brief concept where Soldiers and Families sit in an auditorium and listen as a stream of presenters use PowerPoint to share their resources. This is such a good idea, but we felt that many were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information provided and began brainstorming ways to make this event more user-friendly. The result? A Deployment Fair. Very similar in concept, but very different in execution. We asked our community resource points of contact to set up a booth with their information and any hand-outs they could provide our Families to let them know what assistance/resources they can provide during a deployment. Each company-level FRG also set up a booth and were able to see each of their Soldiers and Family members face-to-face, even if for a few minutes. Th...