We often heard statements made that military marriages have shockingly high divorce rates, or that “only the strongest survive.” If you or your spouse is a member of the military, you know that sometimes the separations are long, and the stress levels are high. Many researchers and experts have tried to find out how marriages within the military fare when compared to civilian marriages. Do Military couples break up more often?
Challenges of the Military Marriage
Military service places demands on personnel that have the potential to affect their romantic relationships, such as frequent relocations, sometimes to different countries; long working hours; time away from home for training; and operational deployments which may place military personnel at risk of injury or death. These demands often happen concurrently and are not optional or negotiable. Especially in the U.S Military, Military couples have experienced relatively long and frequent deployments with high exposure to combat. One of the most important aspects of stress for the non-deployed spouse appears to be the level of worrying about issues commonly related to deployment during wartime such as the soldier’s safety, emotional adjustment, and opportunities for communication and emotional stress particularly concerns about injury and death.
