More than 100 Sailors from commands across the country and their family members attended a one-day Deployment Readiness Training at Navy Operational Support Center San Diego Dec. 5.

The event, hosted by Navy Region Southwest's Reserve Component Command (RCC) and the Yellow Ribbon Program, aims to help Sailors prepare for mobilization and deployment.

"The folks who attend our training tend to have fewer issues down the road because we talk about financial, legal, medical, and emotional readiness and are able to answer questions they maybe didn't even know they had until they got here," said Susan Hare, Warrior and Family Support Coordinator with RCC Southwest. "The better prepared you are going in [to deployment] the better we can manage expectations."

Although pre-deployment trainings have been offered for years, Hare says the quality has steadily improved.

"We bring speakers in from across the country so Sailors have the very best trainers and speakers available to them. There are so many organizations standing by to assist servicemembers and their families and this event allows them to meet many of them here," said Hare.

Representatives from the offices of Navy Medicine Psychological Health Outreach, Military OneSource, Fleet and Family Support Center, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, Veterans Administration, MetLife, Tricare and San Diego Veterans Center were on site to answer questions. Sailors also had the opportunity to create powers of attorney and wills.

The training, open to Sailors and one guest (which can be a spouse, parent or significant other), can include round trip travel, accommodations and some meals. Child care is available on-site for local attendees.

"I've never served in the military so I've never been through any of this before and none of my friends have military spouses so they don't really understand," said Amber Villarreal who flew in with her boyfriend from Oklahoma to attend. "Now we have a lot of resources, like DVDs for my son and books, and I know where to go and who to talk to. This is really helpful information and I'm so glad I came."

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class David Carraway, preparing for his first deployment as a Navy Reservist, also found the training to be helpful.

"To be here with people that have deployed before and get feedback from them based on their experiences has been really informative."

Whether preparing for the first deployment or looking for ways to support a deploying Sailor, attendees and their families found the training beneficial.

Cmdr. James Harper, preparing for his fifth deployment, summed it up, "For first time deployers this is invaluable information and for second time deployers this is the information they should have got the first time."

For more information, or to sign up for an event, please visit www.yellowribbonevents.org.

For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, visit www.navy.mil/.