Deployment And Integration In The Military Family

To summarize (Kaplow, Layne, Saltztman, Cozza & Pynoos, 2013, p. 322-340) this article looks at how grief through exposure to loss due to combat fights, loss of fellow unit members, or the loss of a service member can affect a service member or military family during deployment and reintegration phases. The article goes on to discuss some of the stresses that can increase due to deployments such as martial conflicts, abuse or neglect, and mental health problems stemming from both spouses or children. More military children function equally as well as their civilian counterparts, except during times of deployment where they experience more emotional and behavioral problems. The article looks at three key areas Separation distress characterized as missing the deceased. Existential/Identity Distress finding meaning or fulfillment, or taking on roles left by the deceased. Circumstance-Related Distress characterized as emotional pain brought on by how the deceased passed. The article furthermore looks into how the age of the military children plays into their separation distress. Followed by their existential/identity Distress may be disrupted by new

P., Larson, J. C., & Armstrong, L. M. (2017). Facilitating successful reintegration: Attending to the needs of military families. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 87(2), 176-184. doi:10.1037/ort0000201

There is a large amount of military families around the world. About Forty- three percent of active military members have children (Website). These children face so many challenges and struggles in their life while having a parent in the military. Children of Active duty military members exhibit anxiety, depression and stress just as much as the service members and spouses experience. For instance the children experience going through multiple deployments, long separations, frequent moves and awkward reunions when their parents return home from deployment. Even more so if the parent has been physically or mentally traumatized from overseas.

The study concluded that each soldier response to re-adjustment differed from the fellow service member. When addressing the deployed and injured soldier, it was that while in the military, the service member experienced a positive life outlook and a sense of been part of a team. Once released from the duty, the same individual experienced no sense of belonging partially due to the sudden departure from the service. In another case, the authors found that a 30 year old veteran while still struggling the transitional phase seek out assistance with the transition process as he

War creates a great amount of stress on families that go beyond the regular struggles that occur in every day family life. When a family member is deployed to a war, no one is left unaffected. Just as the soldiers themselves go into the war unaware of what effects it will cause neither does their families. War instills vulnerability throughout families as it is not certain that the enlisted family member will return home again. Robert Ross from Timothy Findley’s

The definition of reintegration has been defined as “the process of transitioning back into personal and organizational roles after deployment (Currie, Day, & Kelloway, 2011).” While reintegration may bring images of family homecomings and welcome home parties, it is not that simple for the returning veteran. According to a survey conducted by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), 40 percent of surveyed military members returning from deployment reported experienced a high level of difficulty reintegrating into civilian life (Sayer et al., 2010). Many difficulties can arise when returning home from deployment. Some of those barriers are examined here.

Veterans face many obstacles and barriers to overcome when transitioning back into civilian life. Macdermid & Riggs (2014) discusses how military deployment has many consequences for an individual and their families. According to Sayer, Frazier, Orazem, Murdoch, Gravely, Carlson, &Noorbalooci (2011) all military branches already require their troops to complete a reintegration program before discharge but these programs typically only

Long absences can very often lead to complications in marriages and in relationships with children. Soldiers can miss very important moments because of a war, such as holidays and birthdays. The parent who is not at war also has to take on all of the responsibilities for home, children, and finance while their significant other is deployed. In addition to this, the parent who is left behind often finds themselves dealing with a change in behavior from their children, which is very likely a result from their other parent’s long absence. Many returning veterans blame the complications in their lives after their life in the military on their time deployed. It may seem insignificant, but this is a big reason why military force has an impact on the everyday lives of Americans who do not even serve for a military branch.

For military veterans, reintegrating into a civilian lifestyle post-deployment comes with many different challenges. These challenges range from reconnecting with loved ones to receiving treatment for stress-induced mental health diagnoses. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) impacts thousands of military personnel, both active and veteran status, each year. Based on the DSM definition of PTSD, this diagnosis impacts both the sufferer’s life and also his or her close personal relationships. These negative impacts in addition to reintegration into civilian life can result in a greater difficulty with relationship reintegration. In a study done by Elliott, Gonzalez, and Larsen in 2011, PTSD was found to be a mediating variable between intimate relationship strain and combat exposure.

Military children are in a league of their own, and at very young ages are thrown into situations of great stress. Approximately 1.2 million children live in the U.S. Military families (Kelly. 2003) and at least 700,000 of them have had at least one parent deployed (Johnson et al. 2007). Every child handles a deployment differently, some may regress in potty training, and others may become extremely aggressive. Many different things can happen, in most cases when a parent deploys and the child becomes difficult to handle, it can cause a massive amount of stress on the parent that is not deployed as well as added stress on the parent who is deployed. There are three stages of a deployment, pre-deployment, deployment, and reintegration,

An article titled "How Deployment Stress Affects Children and Families: Research Findings" estimated that “by the end of 2008, 1.7 million American Service Members had served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF).” Each person is different. They experience and interpret situations unique to their personality that varies depending on the person, but war produces the same problems for members of the nuclear family. War creates a cloud of worry and anxiety. “Parents of [military personnel] often have misgivings (Lediaev).” These reservations and

Deployment and integration are one the greatest challenges military families and children have to face on a daily basis. When a family member deploys or reintegrates within the entire family, it not only affects the service member but it affects the entire family. Deployment can often lead to families and children, experiencing a negative mental health outcomes and compromised wellbeing. Bello (2015) found that most families and children (80.5% required less than one month to adjust to the return of their deployed parent (Bello, 2015). Accordingly, the families and children are often quick to adjust to having their family member back in the home. Interestingly, discoveries are surprising in light of the fact that when contrasted to another family, the discoveries are definitely unique. Boberiene (2014) found that three out of every four families feel that reintegration after the first three months is the most stressful phase of a deployment (Boberiene, 2014). This is because the family experiences many emotions while the member is away.

MILITARY SPOUSES AND THE CHALLENGES OF MILITARY Abstract Army life is unique to say the least. The subculture, with its own language, rules, acronyms and ways, is foreign to the general population. The Global war on Terrorism has brought more awareness and certainly more curiosity about Army life. (Krajeski, 2006, 2008, p. 5).Today, more than ever, the military spouse is a pioneer who travels to strange lands, rears her

One way to accomplish this is through answering research questions related to military family life, such as “How do multiple deployments, multiple moves and other military lifestyle factors affect the development of attachment in military children?” and “What is the long-term impact on military children who have experienced multiple deployments, relocations and other life-disrupting events associated with military life?” As America continues to send service members to the Middle East in the midst of the longest military conflict in its history, gaining an understanding of the long-term impact on this generation of military children is crucial to aid in the development of programs and resources with the hope of ameliorating the challenges they have encountered. Additionally, the answers to these research questions may assist in identifying protective and risk factors and increase positive outcomes for these children as they grow into

When a parent is deployed to serve at war, a child faces many hardships in his well-being. The main problem is that early children face many social, emotional, and physical problems when a parent goes to war and returns with a health issue. Children under age of five are developing negative behaviors, for example Home Front Alert: The Risk Facing Young Children In Military Families states that “children in military families with a deployed parent may experience stress, anxiety, and difficult coping, as well as academic problems” (Murphey, 2013, p. 4). This reveals that absent parents are not fulfilling the child’s cognitive needs, which plays an important in their health. Thus, children