The Deployment Of Military Personnel

Military personnel are deployed as part of their job. Usually deployments are out of the country, where most service members are leaving their family behind. With deployment, sometimes you don’t know where military personnel will be going and how long the person may be gone. The most important question is “Are they safe where they are going?” Not only does the person in the military ask these question, but the significant others such as partners and kids worry about these questions, knowing that sometimes these questions won’t have a straight answer. Not only do military personnel suffer from certain emotions and become affect from being away from their family; the family also goes through the same storm. Some are under the assumption that because the family back at home have the benefits provide by the military, they have nothing

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

The authors concluded that the shorter that dwell time, the harder it is for military families to maintain a stable relationship. The authors also provided helpful information on family support and how stress factors can be reduced when military families come across deployment.

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.

“Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Returning service members had issues such as “getting along with one’s spouse and children, taking care of one’s health and belonging in civilian society”. These matters create crucial tension in the service member’s and the family member’s life in addition to daily life as a civilian. (Kovatch, 2013) A study was done for both Army and Marines returning from combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). It was reported that 18% of active service members and 21% of Reserves and National Guard members had a “positive screen for mental health concerns on the Post-Deployment Health Assessment (PDHA).”

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

As reported by Claire J. White, the author of International Review of Psychiatry journal, spousal deployment might be stressful and could lead into some psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. The anxiety is more than worrying about their husband condition in the middle of a combat, it’s also involving their uneasiness of being far from each other. As most of the deployment were not all due to a short period, it includes how the military spouse would likely to survive and continue the life without their husband at the side. These situations had all been depicted by Saslow in the Ten Letters, where Krissy and Doug were forced to split apart due to the deployment after 10 days they got married. This has put Krissy in a condition

Once the separation has occurred, the next stage is the deployment stage. When a military member deploys, they can be away from their family

War has tremendous effects on the human mind and impacts all parties involved. Remnants of war can dramatically affect relationships with loved ones and create greater problems ranging from financial problems to psychological damage that has more profound effects on the family infrastructure and its operation. The notion of war produces pressures and strains on the family that is not experienced everyday in the routine family life. Family member who experience PTSD from their service in the military also places unforeseen weights and consequences for the family to carry. There are specific effects distinct to a parent, a spouse, and children when a loved one is serving their country. The relationships between a service men and these family members are transformed with the absence and their reintegration.

There is also the unfortunate reality that our service members may never return home. When we see that government vehicle slowly driving down the street, the one no military spouse wants to see, and we get that knock on the door, we know that our service member is not returning home. However, despite all the adversity we face or the tragedies we experience, we are a strong breed. As a result, being a military spouse has made me resilient and adaptable to change.

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