Military life can be very stressful on families. Long separations, frequent moves, inconsistent training schedules, late nights in the office and the toll of mental and physical injuries on both the service member and the family can all add up over time.
Deployments are Difficult
For military spouses, deployments mean 6-18 months away from their husband or wife, who can sometimes be in an unknown or unsafe location. For military children, deployments mean months without a parent or authority figure around.
Going into the military with a family can be a fun and exciting adventure that can take you all over the globe. However, deployments and commitments can cause serious consequences if the right support is not in place. Therefore, it's important to consider all sides when looking at joining the military with a family.
Military life results in uncertainty and breaks in routine, which can cause family members to experience high anxiety, depression, PTSD and long-term mental health and wellness injuries. Many spouses feel it will hurt their military partner's chances of promotion if they would seek help for stress or depression.
The life of a military spouse is undeniably challenging. Being away from your partner for months or years at a time, assuming the role of a single parent, trying to balance a career while moving so often – all of these realities of military life can take its toll.
Your chances of having your marriage end in divorce are even higher if you are a female member of the military. The divorce rate among women in the military is 4.54%. The divorce rate among men in the military, meanwhile, is 2.9%.
The pros of being in a military relationship, dating-wise, are simply that it makes the relationship stronger and makes you cherish each other a lot more. The months spent apart and the little time you get to talk makes you realize what you have and appreciate each other more than you ever thought was possible.
Military life can be very stressful on families. Long separations, frequent moves, inconsistent training schedules, late nights in the office and the toll of mental and physical injuries on both the service member and the family can all add up over time.
Military families move, on average, every 2.5 years, every move bringing great change and the need to start anew for each member of the family. Military life has pros and cons, but among the downsides is the stress from these restarts.
Children in military families experience high rates of mental health, trauma and related problems. Military life can be a source of psychological stress for children. Multiple deployments, frequent moves and having a parent injured or die is a reality for many children in military families.
The oldest you can be to enlist for active duty in each branch is: Coast Guard: 31. Marines: 28. Navy: 39.
As service members PCS through various states, family units may live together for periods without becoming dependents.
Free gyms, libraries and other recreation opportunities. Free tax services. Free, confidential non-medical counseling services. Help with education and career goals.
Being a dual-military couple is one of the few instances where a military member has the chance to deploy with their spouse. With the Married Army Couples Program, which helps place married service members in proximal units, some couples have the chance to spend their time overseas together.
These requirements may also impact the scheduling of annual leave. Annual Leave: Active duty Soldiers earn 2.5 days of annual (chargeable) leave for each month of service, for a total of 30 days per year. Currently, Soldiers can bank up to 60 days of leave at the end of the fiscal year.
This is a great, inexpensive way to get to a destination. Family members are also welcome to visit their service member on base. In addition, service members of the Reserve and National Guard are often allowed to serve close to home.
Described by some as “a preference for the Civilian over the Military,” the Third Amendment forbids the forcible housing of military personnel in a citizen's home during peacetime and requires the process to be “prescribed by law” in times of war.
It is about reintegrating back into society. It starts by making meaningful connections in life beyond the military. This process is made harder by the clear purpose, shared identity, and social norms of the military culture. Even without these obstacles, connection isn't easy.
Most also receive a variety of allowances, special pays and bonuses depending on things like deployment, paygrade and military job. For most married service members, those allowances include Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) and Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
Sure, there are positive aspects of growing up as military brats. But they can, in many ways, be hurt as well as improved by their experiences. Military life can be incredibly hard, and our military kids often feel the effects of the separations and the relocations.
Married couples with at least one spouse working in the military have a higher chance of divorcing than civilian couples. As reported by GoBankingRates.com, research conducted by career website Zippia revealed a 30% divorce rate for enlisted first-line military supervisors.
The military's solution is to incorporate families in their entirety, and it pays the full relocation costs for each family member -- as long as they are married. This policy causes people to marry earlier than they had planned to, and sometimes to people they would not otherwise have married.
It's normal to be confused about how the whole military lifestyle really works, especially if you're a new military boyfriend or girlfriend. Military relationships are fun, hard, interesting, challenging, and most of all, rewarding. No matter how foreign this all is, just know you don't have to struggle alone.
Being married to the military can be harder than we expected. The unforeseen challenges we face our civilian friends don't understand. Most military marriages have rough spots from time to time. Military couples say that those rough spots are often temporary.