Aloha families and friends of Echo Btry,

There is no more important resource to the success of our battery or the Marine Corps than the contribution of individual Marines and Sailors. Over time, each of us sustains our ability to make these consistent contributions through the support we receive from those we care about—our families. A family’s support, in turn, is highly dependent on how ready they are to deal with the ongoing challenges of military life.

As the Commanding Officer of Battery “E”, I am honored with the sacred responsibility to care and provide for our Marines and Sailors. To that end, this battery is dedicated to sustaining a viable Family Readiness Program that supports our Marines and Sailors as they maintain their families’ readiness. Each of us has a role to play within this program.

Individual Marines and Sailors must accept the responsibility for their family’s care and readiness. A military family must be able to continue to care for itself even when it has a Marine or Sailor deployed overseas. To ensure their families’ well-being, all Marines and Sailors with families must maintain an accurate and current Family Care Plan.

The Family Readiness Officer (FRO) assists our battalion’s Personal and Family Readiness Program, but it is our leaders who must own it. I will ensure that my leaders keep their men informed and maintain tied-in with all the services available to our families. The FRO will assist us and respond to our concerns quickly and will provide information as soon as possible; however he cannot do his job alone. We must feed the FRO with information on our battery’s specific needs for him to best assist our Marines.

The term “family” not only includes spouses and children, but also parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, fiancees, significant others, friends and supporters. In the Marine Corps, often unmarried Marines feel that Personal and Family Readiness is only for the married Marines and Sailors, but that is not the case. All Marines have a family, and in Echo Battery we aim to support families of all shapes and sizes.

I am truly honored to begin the next chapter of this esteemed battery with all of you and I look forward to creating our own Echo Battery family in the months to come.

Captain Morris Sharber
Battery Commander