Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

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Soldiers fill the Phantom Warrior Center for a senior leader breakfast Monday morning. At the breakfast, leaders met with Gary Rosberg to hear his concepts about building strong marriages. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Soldiers fill the Phantom Warrior Center for a senior leader breakfast Monday morning. At the breakfast, leaders met with Gary Rosberg to hear his concepts about building strong marriages. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Staff

Gary Rosberg, a marraige counselor, speaks at a senior leader breakfast Monday morning in the Phantom Warrior Center. At the breakfast, leaders met with Gary Rosberg and hear his concepts about building strong marriages. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Staff

Chap. (Capt.) Rob Patterson, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and his wife, Muffy, demonstrate good communication skills at the Spirit of Fort Hood Chapel’s Date Night Sunday evening. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Military couples from all over the installation attended Fort Hood’s Date Night at the Spirit of Fort Hood Chapel Sunday evening, with relationship expert Gary Rosberg.

Rosberg and his wife, Barb, have been married for 37 years and are known internationally as “America’s Family Coaches.” Together, they have written close to a dozen books on strengthening marriage and reconnecting emotionally, physically and spiritually in relationships.

“This is basically a two-hour study on how to date your spouse,” said Chap. (Maj.) Jerald Jacobs, III Corps operations chaplain. “This helps people realize that no matter where we are in a relationship, there is always room for improvement.”

The Date Night Sunday evening was complete with dinner and childcare provided at the chapel, so couples could fully focus on the subject matter and relax with each other. Rosberg began the seminar with an ice-breaker, finding the couple in the room who had been married the longest – 37 years – and the couple who had been married the shortest – three weeks. He presented both couples with a copy of his and Barb’s book, “Guard Your Heart.”

“This gets folks excited about the possibility of reintroducing romance,” Jacobs said. “The huge number of people we had registering for this event shows that there is a real need felt for strengthening marriages.”

Gary Rosberg echoed Jacobs’s remarks by saying the amount of people present at Date Night proves the reality for the desire to resolve conflicts and communicate with your spouse.

“These are good, teachable Families who want to connect more – emotionally, physically and spiritually,” Rosberg said. “Barb and I are so incredibly proud of America’s Soldiers, and like millions of other Americans, we want to give back to them for their sacrifices. This is our way of giving back – we want military Families to be able to strengthen through deployments and relocations, not just survive them.”

Throughout the evening, Rosberg provided marriage-strengthening advice and had the couples interact with each other for communication drills. Date Night was the first of a few workshops Gary and Barb are planning at Fort Hood.

Date Night was followed by a senior leader breakfast Monday morning at the Phantom Warrior Center, where Gary provided more vision for reconnecting relationships and shared his passion for strong marriages.

Jacobs said both the Date Night and the senior leader breakfast were put on not only to introduce couples to new possibilities, but to build momentum for the upcoming September Marriage Mentoring Workshops, where Barb will join her husband in the coaching at Fort Hood.

“We’re bringing 37 years of marriage to this effort. What we want to do is speak into the heart of the men and women that are under your authority, under your command,” Rosberg said at the senior leader breakfast Monday morning, referring to he and Barb.

Rosberg also told the leaders about he and his wife’s six principles, what he calls the “non-negotiables of marriage.”

“I believe that they will divorce-proof a marriage,” Rosberg said about his principles.

Rosberg’s advice on how to renew, celebrate and guard the heart of a marriage was presented to the leaders Monday morning, as well. He said vigilantly and intentionally guarding a marriage’s core, or heart, and being active instead of on autopilot throughout a marriage, are the only ways that marriage in today’s world can survive, and happily so.

The Marriage Mentoring Workshops will take place Sept. 6-9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on each day, with lunch provided, at the Spirit of Fort Hood Chapel.

“On the Thursday, during the six hours of actual training, we’re going to teach couples, we’re going to teach chaplains and their spouses, we’re going to teach social workers,” Rosberg said of September’s workshops.

They’ll also be walking through all six of the elements that they have learned will help strengthen a marriage.

“These workshops are designed for couples to learn how to have a good marriage, and also to help others have a good marriage,” Jacobs said. “It can be about using your marriage, expertise and experiences to help younger couples with theirs.”

Jacobs and Rosberg both said they were excited about the upcoming September workshops.

“Tonight (Date Night), is about having fun and realizing no one is the lone ranger here; we are all in the same boat,” Jacobs said. “Next month is when the real strengthening and growing begins. It’s going to be exciting for everyone.”

Editor’s note: Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Staff, contributed to this article.