Honestly, your disciplined manner of doing your job reminds me of the mindful lives led by some Cistercian monks I've known. I'm very moved by your accounting of your experience here. In particular, you have retained your humanity rather than retreat to rote responses.
You didn’t mention it here but I’m sure it happened: official CACO duties sometimes linger for months after the Marine is laid to rest.
This is an article I wouldn’t have expected here, so thank you for describing this critical and solemn responsibility. You’re absolutely right in that it is your primary duty at a very urgent time.
I’m glad you had the benefit of at least the online training, because at the outset of the GWOT, the lessons learned had been forgotten and CACO duty wasn’t very well-organized or trained; I’ve heard anecdotally that it was often screwed up. By my I&I time of 2005-2008, the MarineNet course was available; there had also been hundreds of casualty assistance calls by then and everyone got better.
Amazing article, Casualty Branch should make it required reading for prospective CACOs. I'll say that every CACO response we did had its own unique challenges. Remembering the human dimension and communicating with clarity and certainty were absolutely key. It was challenging, but it made me proud that the Marine Corps put such an emphasis on doing it right, and even if the training had gaps as you've identified, I still felt both charged and empowered to uphold our commitment to the families.
Honestly, your disciplined manner of doing your job reminds me of the mindful lives led by some Cistercian monks I've known. I'm very moved by your accounting of your experience here. In particular, you have retained your humanity rather than retreat to rote responses.
You didn’t mention it here but I’m sure it happened: official CACO duties sometimes linger for months after the Marine is laid to rest.
This is an article I wouldn’t have expected here, so thank you for describing this critical and solemn responsibility. You’re absolutely right in that it is your primary duty at a very urgent time.
I’m glad you had the benefit of at least the online training, because at the outset of the GWOT, the lessons learned had been forgotten and CACO duty wasn’t very well-organized or trained; I’ve heard anecdotally that it was often screwed up. By my I&I time of 2005-2008, the MarineNet course was available; there had also been hundreds of casualty assistance calls by then and everyone got better.
You’re braver and better than I ever was or can be, Captain doing that job.
Amazing article, Casualty Branch should make it required reading for prospective CACOs. I'll say that every CACO response we did had its own unique challenges. Remembering the human dimension and communicating with clarity and certainty were absolutely key. It was challenging, but it made me proud that the Marine Corps put such an emphasis on doing it right, and even if the training had gaps as you've identified, I still felt both charged and empowered to uphold our commitment to the families.