The Foreign Service Journal, May 2007

dents, about half had visited FLO’s Web sites; by con- trast, two-thirds of family-member respondents were familiar with the sites. A few respondents erroneously believed that because they were single, FLO had nothing to offer them. When the survey opened, FLO had only recently announced a Cox Foundation-funded contract with Managed Health Network to provide 24/7 specialized support services to the unaccompanied-tour community through an interactive Web portal and toll-free telephone center. Yet significantly, only one-third of the respon- dents were aware of these services. Since then, usage of the Web portal has doubled each quarter. When asked to rate their interest in a list of pro- posed workshop topics to be presented by MHN, the top choice in nearly all groups was “Managing Stress,” followed by “Family Communication” and “Creating/ Maintaining a Healthy Marriage.” However, if one considered only the responses of those employees and family members who had completed an unaccompa- nied tour, “Creating/Maintaining a Healthy Marriage” was number one. This reinforces the observation that for many, reintegration of the family can be more diffi- cult than expected. The survey response indicated that other support ser- vices are also underutilized. Only one in five were aware of the “Long-Distance Relationship” course offered at FSI. When asked what they would like to see offered prior to separation, the majority mentioned communi- cation skills and an explanation of the emotional cycles they could expect. Many wanted classes along the lines of the Diplomatic Security Antiterrorism Course (Iraq), as well as post-specific information. While employees sent to all unaccompanied posts generally wanted the “Crash and Bang” portion of security training as well, family members wanted to attend the basic Area Studies/Life at Post/Office of Casualty Assistance/FLO briefing series. Some family members sought financial management classes. Employees also wanted these, as well as per- F O C U S M A Y 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33