Ready for the call

[unhappycamper]

Casualty assistance calls
New video offers CACO training.


Ready for the call
By Bryan Mitchell - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 3, 2008 5:41:16 EST

Lt. Col. Dan Greif wishes his job was unnecessary. As a casualty assistance calls officer, the Washington, D.C.-based reservist has knocked on the door and delivered the worst news imaginable to the families of three fallen Marines. He’s currently helping a fourth family navigate the endless stream of paperwork and questions.

“It’s not a task that you want to be assigned, but it’s rewarding in its own right,” said Greif (a name, ironically, pronounced like “life,” not “grief”).

With Marines engaged in wars on two fronts, Greif doesn’t know what tomorrow may bring. But he says the Corps’ new CACO training package will ensure that he — and scores of his fellow Marines — is ready when called.

The new training program is required for any Marine likely to be tasked with CACO duty, but does not mean major changes in who performs the notifications. An infantry staff sergeant at Camp Lejeune, N.C., for example, most likely won’t be called in from training to make a notification. Instead, active-duty Marines working on Inspector-Instructor duty will perform nearly nine out of 10 casualty notifications.

Last year a Marine Corps inspector general report found fault with some of the Corps’ methods for handling casualty notifications. Adding the new video-based training will ensure the service is sufficiently equipped to guide families through an upsetting, stressful decision-making process, Greif said.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/11/marine_cacos_110308w/%2e



uhc comment: There's a link to the video in the MCT article.