This scenario played out 14 years ago, as the USS Constellation prepared to deploy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and I remember that morning like it happened yesterday. On October 2, 2002, my son joined a new generation of heroes that left to safeguard our country.
My husband and I joined the military in 2008 as psychology residents with the vague, distant understanding that deployment was a possibility for both of us. Just like anything that seems stressful and perhaps mildly unpleasant, but too far in the future, we paid little attention to our fears and concerns. However, I don’t think either of us anticipated that our experience with deployment would coincide with the birth of our one and only child.
Let me start by saying, being a military spouse has its challenges, but it also has many rewards. November is Military Family Appreciation month, where we as a nation honor all military family members (mo
Most military couples would agree that military life offers a fair number of challenges. I reached out to some “real life” experts – military couples who have been around the block a time or two – to learn from their wealth of experience. Their marriages have collectively seen hundreds of deployments, PCSs, TDYs, and other major military family events – they have experienced ups, downs, and in-betweens – and they have some amazing stories to tell. I asked them to share the greatest challenges they have faced as military couples and the survival strategies that have kept them going.
I want to expand upon an issue raised by Dr. Jennifer Philips in her blog on military children’s resilience. Dr. Phillips explored some of the positive outcomes of military children who experience frequent relocations. Moving is a universal experience of military families, but it becomes even more complicated when the children in the family are in high school.