One hundred and twenty soldiers and spouses gathered Aug. 24 at The HUB for Fort Carson’s first Family Resilience Day.

Hosted by the Soldier and Family Readiness Program, the daylong seminar featured presentations designed to strengthen families and increase communication within them.

Though Fort Carson has hosted events encouraging the cultivation of resiliency in spouses, kids and soldiers, the event was the post’s first of its size dedicated to cultivating resiliency in the family as a whole.

“The military family is under a lot of stress,” said Ken Robinson, an Army Community Service program coordinator who helped organize the event. “We wanted to have a day of encouragement and education for military families.”

Among the perks available to attendees were free childcare, a pizza lunch and tables loaded with free books like “Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers” and “How We Love Our Kids: The Five Love Styles of Parenting.”

“It’s pretty interactive,” said Jill Nugin, an Army Community Service program manager who organized the event with Robinson. “We offered the free childcare so parents could come and really focus on this stuff. We focus on marriages a lot, but we have so many Army kids dealing with the same things military marriages are dealing with.

“This is about how we get families strong. We have to stay connected. How do we help military kids do that? How do we keep those lines of communication open?”

The program opened with a talk on family systems and continued with sessions focused on children aged birth through teenagers. Topics included the love languages of children and how families can establish meaningful, memorable traditions like regular family dinners.

Spc. Will Domko brought his wife, Lauren, to the event, which he hoped would serve as a primer on parenting military kids.

Lauren gave birth to their first child four months ago and is nearly three months pregnant with their second.

“I was excited when I found out about this because I knew she could get some help on being a parent in the military,” said Will Domko, who plans to make the military his career. “I grew up as an Army brat, so I know what Army life looks like.”

“I had no Army affiliation before him,” Lauren Domko said, adding that taking care of a newborn while her husband is away at training is tough, especially at night. “He knows how to do this. I don’t.”

Lt. Col. Bill Werling and his wife, Kim, also attended the seminar. The two are parents to 5- and 7-year-old children, and Bill has a 19-year-old.

“The main speaker has been very dynamic,” said Kim Werling, referring to Chap Clark, a Fuller Theological Seminary professor and the event’s keynote speaker. “He has reinforced getting prepared for the adolescent years, which apparently creep up on you a lot faster than you think.”

Kim said she picked up a free copy of “The Five Love Languages of Children” began reading it between speakers.

She hopes similar events are held on a regular basis so parents can pick up “different ideas for different stages.”

They may be in luck: Nugin said she hopes to make the event an annual occurrence.

Spc. Will Domko and his wife, Lauren, listen to keynote speaker Chap Clark during Family Resilience Day, held Aug. 24 at The HUB on Fort Carson. The daylong seminar, attended by 120 soldiers and spouses, was the first on-post event of its size and magnitude to focus on resiliency and the family unit. Photo by ERIN PRATER/THE GAZETTE