MILLINGTON, Tenn. (NNS) -- As part of its goal to improve recruitment, readiness and retention, the U.S. Navy has launched a global campaign to encourage servicemembers and their families to take advantage of life- and career-enhancing programs offered at its 55 Fleet and Family Support Centers (FFSCs) around the world.

“Fleet and Family Support Centers are among the Navy’s best efforts to put Servicemembers and their families first,” said Captain Kim Drury of the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn. “We offer a range of programs from Personal Financial Management and New Parent Support to Spouse Employment Assistance, Professional Counseling and Deployment Support.”

The center services are free to all servicemembers, their families, retirees and activated reservists. It is a benefit unmatched in the private sector, said Drury.

“No private sector employer takes care of its own the way the Navy does. And the new logo and theme line we’ve adopted to promote the programs reflect this,” she said.

The FFSC’s new lighthouse logo and theme line: “Meeting Your Needs, At Home, At Sea,” were designed to give the centers a uniform identity at naval bases around the globe. The goal is to familiarize more servicemembers and their families with the various programs offered, and increase utilization, Drury said.

“These programs are specifically designed to address the unique challenges that come with life in the military,” Drury said. “We are here to help families and servicemembers manage their finances, deal with stress, relocate, adjust to parenting and everything in between.”

Servicemembers are often unaware of or are misinformed about the array of programs available to them and their families.

“Like many of my former peers, I was under the assumption that you only go to the FFSC if you are in trouble,” said 20-year Navy veteran Eugene Jackson, who retired from the service and now serves as a relocation specialist at NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Fla. “I was amazed to find out about all the services and resources the FFSC has to offer – services that could’ve made my career a lot less stressful if only I had known or had made an effort to find out.”

To help raise awareness and change perceptions of the center, Navy Personnel Command brought nearly 60 of its FFSC directors and marketing specialists to Millington for three days of training in June and July.

“This training is one element of our commitment to getting servicemembers and their families to take advantage of this important benefit they earn every day through hard work and dedication to our armed forces,” Drury said.

The training sessions included a presentation by marketing expert professor O.C. Ferrell, who chairs the marketing department at Colorado State University.

Ferrell is a leading professor and scholar of marketing and business ethics who has co-written more than 70 articles and 17 books. Before joining Colorado State, he was a University of Memphis instructor and previously taught marketing concepts to base-exchange managers for the Army and Air Force.

“Those who use the FFSC once tend to use it again because they receive great service and they discover all the other beneficial programs available to them there. The challenge is getting servicemembers to walk in the door the first time,” Ferrell said. “That’s where effective, targeted marketing comes in, and this campaign delivers that element.”

For more news from the Chief of Naval Personnel, go to www.news.navy.mil