Many soldiers shared that they have difficulties maintaining relationships. Either they are unable to have a long-lasting relationship or their wives are always unhappy with them and some even end up in divorce. I do notice that Soldiers often blame it on the nature of their job which is demanding, and this is the main reason that they are unable to fulfill their duties as a husband.
Personally, I do agree that maintaining relationships may not be as easy for military couples. It is often perceived as there is nothing that a husband can further do as it is the requirement of his job and the Civilian wife is often seen as not understanding and unhappy. I feel in most cases. Military couples can still have a good relationship or marriage.
I feel that a common perception that Soldiers in Singapore has. “I am needed by my Country, so I need to serve. There is nothing much I can do. My wife has to be the one who is carrying the heavy load.” As much as the Soldiers feel guilty about it, they seem to be fixated at this thought that there is nothing much that they can do to improve the relationship.
I understand that as much as military couples are not able to change their situation, but they can focus on their communication styles which will improve their marriage greatly. Lavner et al (2016) suggests that communication plays a central role in marriage. The quality of communication between spouses is widely assumed to affect their subsequent judgments of relationship satisfaction. Couple communication skills are the key predictors of relationship satisfaction. For example, having conversations with one another such as things as discussing the works or daily activities, expressing the things which they like and which they dislike will have significant role in maintaining the good relationship.
