Misconceptions About Military Families

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.

A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children from military families have a higher risk of social, emotional and behavioral problems such as anxiety, depression and suicide ideation. Other reports have shown that military families also have a high rates of domestic violence, child abuse and spousal abuse. The immense strains and pressures of the military lifestyle create inconsistencies in the lives of military families that are often overlooked by those considering joining the military. Over the years the U.S government and other organizations have been doing ample research into family health in the military and effectively identifying and addressing critical issues that are faced by military families. Speaking from

These challenges could be the result of another finding in which the spouses of veterans diagnosed with PTSD reported seeing their significant other as a different person post-deployment compared to pre-deployment (Yambo, Johnson, Delaney, Hamilton, Miller, & York, 2016). An unshared experience, such as combat, can also lead to relationship disconnect. Those who struggle with PTSD have a significantly higher perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness than military personnel who have never been diagnosed with PTSD (Bryan, 2011). These emotions are consistent with Pease, Billera, and Gerard’s 2015 study, which found that many military personnel feel isolated, disconnected, misunderstood, and out of place upon returning to a family lifestyle and that marriage increases the difficulty in civilian life reintegration. In our opinion, a diagnosis of PTSD amplifies the challenges of relationship

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,

As mentioned above the military family members go through many challenges. The service member when deployed leaves the other parent to the care of the family and home. Many divorces happen due to one parent being away from the home for long periods of time and the stress placed on the one parent at home. With one parent left to take on the role for both parents, this can either become a stressor for that one parent or strength building time. The children may receive less attention because the one parent is doing the duty of two. They become self-sufficient during this time. The service member that is deployed is focusing on the duty at hand. This may be patrolling the boundaries of the

Often children of parents serving in the military receive the term of being a “military brat”. This is often thought of with a negative connotation as the term “brat” is seen as a child with contempt. Those with limited knowledge of the military culture are frequently misunderstood and believe it is demeaning; however, many in the military culture see it as a term of endearment. Another common misconception can be highlighted from the typical Hollywood “Army Wives” where every episode is filled with drama and scandal. Furthermore, many people have a thought that adultery is common among military spouses. However, as with all families there is drama, yet no more prevalent in the military culture than others believe.

Individuals who join the military come from various backgrounds, once within the military institutional system, families can be at an advantage by stable employment and benefits, and safe, well maintained local environments (Rodriguez & Margolin, 2015, p.35). However, military deployments and duty-related separations are very common for military service members and their families. They are one of the most widely recognized and documented stressors for military families. Nevertheless, the experience of separation can also strengthen military couples and families by increasing their resiliency (as cited in Norwood, Fullerton, & Hagen, 1996). The temporary absence of a parent is experienced by many youth and can have profound effects on their

As stated in “Psychological Effects of Deployments on Military Families” journal written by Christopher H. Warner, who is a Chief of Department of Behavioral Health, military deployment has become the stressor and gave big potential impacts to the family members mentally and psychologically. He remarks that parents of serving soldiers often being the one that had aroused stress level due to their children deployment. They would tend to feel fear and anxious of their children safety at the warzone. It would also affect their mood and feelings when it comes to the war-relatable things. In chapter 3 of Ten Letters, Eli Saslow illustrates the condition of a worrying mom named Polly Chamberlain, whom his only son serving for the country in Afghanistan.

But, who doesn’t not love getting neat stuff in the mail? A short, handwritten note, tucked in a greeting card, trumps electronic communication.

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.

Today’s Army is challenging for Soldiers with Families. There is an old Army saying, “If the Army wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one,” but today, that is not an adequate statement. For many years now, there are many Family issues that are constantly addressed and require action or change (Avery, 2009). Some of the issues include family support, medical and dental benefits, housing, Spouse employment, and readiness training (Avery, 2009).

I was born into a military family. Both of my parents are affiliated with the Army. My mom is a retired veteran who served 22 years, while my dad is still an active duty Sergeant Major quickly approaching his 28th year. I was born in El Paso, Texas, however, I can’t say I grew up there because we ended up leaving two months after I was born. I have moved 10 times and lived in different countries during the last 17 years. Due to the fact that I was always moving, I never had long term friendships. It was really hard, especially as a child, to make friends. I always like the odd person because not all public schools I attended were familiar with military families. That always led to a feeling of uncomfortableness. It was hard to understand that people are not used to a new face in school. I learned from my parents at a young age that I should always show respect, kindness, and honesty to others. So even though I felt out of place, I still remained humble and put forth my best efforts.

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

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

Coming into this project, I had a vague idea of the effects of war on military families. Of course, I knew there were struggles with in a family that has a soldier or a veteran, but I didn’t understand the full concept wholly. One of my questions coming into the project was what are the benefits for military families? I figured that there was just a fine line of what benefits a military family gets regarding financial stances, but I was completely wrong. I learned that there are different situations, certain ages, and marital status requirements. I think I was so fascinated with this question because I’ve grown up seeing a few people whose family member has been in or is currently in war, and they struggle financially and I wanted to understand why that was the case. I questioned the emotions of the military families and if those emotions are the generally the same across every military family. This was a tough question and I still don’t have a complete answer, but I found that every single military family has a different reaction. No one family goes through the same issues as another. Like I said about the financial situations, I was fascinated with war effects on military families because I have seen it with my friend and her family. My concept of military families has grown more, but I will never fully understand the situations or emotions because I have never been in the situation myself.