Military Power

A recent poll has indicated that the divorce rate in the U.S. Military is on the rise. The rate has increased among the Marines and Army (mostly due to the time of war the United States is currently in, and also with frequent re-locations of military families).

'With increasing demands placed on Army families and soldiers — including frequent deployments and relocations — intimate relationships are tested,' said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

The U.S. Military branches are not accepting that the recent survey is correct.

The new data shows 3.7 percent of more than 84,000 married Marines divorced in fiscal year 2008, up from 3.3 percent in 2007. The Marine Corps called the increase statistically small and said officials would need to examine them farther.

I believe they would most likely deny the claims of divorce being on the rise, because it could lower moral and lower recruiting.

One person, Paul Rieckhoff (spokesman of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) believes it is definitely on the rise.

"Divorce rates are up — no doubt about it — a kind of predictable ripple effect of this pace of operations," Paul Rieckhoff of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said in a recent interview. "And that's not even taking into account the number of marriages that are strained" but still holding together.

Whether the report is true or not, it is not good to see military spouses separating or divorcing in times like these. This goes for the rest of the world, as their military branches go. I'm sure the United States isn't the only one facing something like this, and I'm sure it could potentially demoralize troops because of their fear of their loved one leaving them, while in active duty.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081203/ap_ ... y_divorces

This is some pretty depressing stuff right here. I know it must be extremely hard for military families to cope with what is going on, but if you marry someone who is in the military, you should automatically know that there is the extreme potential for them to be away at long periods of time. So, technically, military spouses have no excuse to get divorced, because they should have seen it coming.

I suppose it could also be a factor that spouses find that they cannot cope with the thought that every time their spouse is deployed, that they have to consider the possibility that there will be a knock on the door and some very bad news. They might say when they get married that they can cope, but find later on that they just can't live like that.

But it certainly is depressing news...

Statistically speaking, the divorce rate for military members is below the divorce rate for America, and the increase from 2007 to 2008 is much lower in military families than in civilian families. So, if anything it shows that military families are stronger than civilian families. Still, it is sad that there is an increase.

Well, yes of course I would hope that military divorce rates would be much lower than the rates for America. But here we are talking about spouses splitting on reasons like: they may not come home, i am tired of being relocated, etc. They knew (or at least should have known) what they were getting into when they married into the military. There is no excuse, and I think that it may be wise and more right to think on it more before acting.

I know the odds are most, but how many of those were married AFTER their spouse joined the military?