For a good portion of 2012 I was contracted by Blue Star Families, a wonderful non profit organization that advocates for military members and their families, to help re-write a deployment toolkit.  "The toolkit" as we came to call it over the months of research, re-writes, and edits, is a comprehensive guide for families of all branches of the service (including the Coast Guard) to prepare for, endure, and reintegrate after a deployment. 

We are all very proud of the final product and extremely happy that it has come together.  If you are a military spouse, please download the free toolkit and share it with your support groups.  It is full of checklists, resources for military families, mental health information, information about children during deployments, and even information for extended family and friends.

As I was researching and writing I was amazed at the information available to us these days, but dismayed by how hard it is to wade through and how there are a thousand websites with a few pieces of information.  Hopefully we have created the "one stop shop" for military families facing down deployment. If you check it out, we'd love your feedback!