Army Offers Marriage Retreat to Help Couples Reconnect - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen

(KCEN) --  Even though thousands of our soldiers are still fighting in Afghanistan the Army has already begun helping to reset those returning from these past ten years of war.

It can be a tough transition not only for soldiers but for families too.

Major Hugh Charles-Walters and his wife Gail are getting back to the family unit.

And a marriage retreat in San Antonio is helping them do that after he served five tours in Iraq and Korea.

"You're used to taking care of everything, and you kind of go on auto-pilot," Gail says.

With two teens, Gail is used to doing it all, now she's relearning how to fit Hugh into the picture.

She goes on to say, "Just re-establishing the way we communicate, with each other and getting used to seeing each other every day again after not being together for an entire year, that's been very hard."

"It doesn't get easier, but you work it in, and you figure out ways of overcoming it," says Major Charles-Walters.

One way is through the Army's Strong Bond's two day Marriage Retreat, focusing on communication and enriching marriages.

"Marriage is not without trouble."

As an Army Chaplain, Major David Stoner knows that statement is true.

And that it can be an even greater battle for military couples, like Gail and Hugh.

"The more deployments you have, the tougher it can be, because it's a lot of time you spend away from your family," Stoner says.

That can also put trust to the test so couples go through a series of exercises to build it up.

"If you feel that you can trust someone, you can endure a lot more of the hardships and the separations."

The weekend targeted issues, like time management, marriage roles and the children's needs.

According to Major Charles-Walters, "It just highlighted those aspects that we needed to focus on, because they're easily overlooked."

This weekend is all about Gail and Hugh, but in the long run, it's about the kids too and setting an example for them of what they believe a family should be.

"I think by working through many of the things that we've worked through, that they see resiliency, and they see that when you have challenges, you don't quit, you work through it," Gail says.

Because no matter what his mission, Hugh's foundation remains the same.

"Yes, the army is my occupation and my career, but at the end of the day, when this is all said and done, I will still have my family."

And reintegration is a continuing duty to his family because there is no telling when duty to his nation will call again.