For citizen soldiers the needs are greater than ever

One of the biggest factors in what went wrong after Vietnam was one day they were in country and the next, back home, alone. For the National Guard and Reservists, they come pretty close to this when they leave home, their family and friends, their jobs and their communities. There are a lot of them doing just that.

“787,000 Guard members and reservists have been called to active duty, the most since World War II. A half-million have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan – and 200,000 have served multiple tours. Nearly 100,000 Guard members and reservists are currently serving on active duty.” Then they come home after a year or more, expecting to and expected to forget all about where they were, put on their work clothes returning to coworkers instead of their combat family. They have to deal with various coworker quirks, listen to complaints as if the earth was ending because some husband didn’t take out the trash or the kids are acting up instead of worrying about if they would ever see their family again because each day in Iraq or Afghanistan could very well have been their last.

Stress of separation takes its toll on military families
11:02 PM CST on Saturday, December 18, 2010

By DAVID TARRANT / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
One in an occasional series. Story by David Tarrant. Photography by Sonya N. Hebert.

Russell and Erin Miller met while deployed in Iraq in 2005 and discovered a shared passion for Dungeons and Dragons. Their interest in the popular role-playing game led to their marriage and settling down in Rice, 45 miles southeast of Dallas.

The husband and wife, both in the Texas Army National Guard , now have new roles: Erin, 28, as a soldier deployed to Afghanistan; Russell, 30, as a stay-at-home dad with 2-year-old daughter Abby.

How their marriage fares during Erin’s 12-month deployment is a question of keen personal interest to the Millers – as well as a matter of urgent national security.

We can talk about the strain on families in the military, which is very real but we need to remember that these citizen soldiers do not have the same support system to come home to. They return to their communities where neighbors have been oblivious to where they have been and what went on, to churches where a general prayer was said for “the members of the armed forces” along with showing up for funerals. Other than that, everyone else has carried on with their lives so that when these “part-time” soldiers return, they are expected to join them in the “normal” world.

For citizen soldiers like the Millers, the needs are greater than ever. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 787,000 Guard members and reservists have been called to active duty, the most since World War II. A half-million have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan – and 200,000 have served multiple tours. Nearly 100,000 Guard members and reservists are currently serving on active duty.

Members of the nation’s reserve component leave behind careers and families. Their spouses and children do not have a built-in support structure, as full-time active duty service members who live on military installations do. But outside the military community, few Americans realize the sacrifices made by these families.

More than 50 percent of military personnel are married, and 70 percent have children. The divorce rate for active-duty military personnel has risen from 2.6 percent in 2001 to 3.6 percent in 2009, when there were an estimated 50,000 military divorces, the Pentagon reported. That’s slightly higher than the civilian divorce rate of 3.4 percent.

The Pentagon’s divorce records don’t tell the whole story because they leave out the National Guard and reservists. The overall percentage of Guard members and reservists who are married has decreased from 53 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2008, according to other military records.

Co-workers complain about having to pick up the duties the Guardsman/woman had as if they just took an extended vacation. Reminded of the risk to their lives, they may have a change of heart temporarily but it doesn’t last long and soon they are going to their boss with a resume of a friend who can do the job better than “Ralph” who wanted to play soldier.

A spouse will worry about the report she read about an attack near where she knows her husband is but she has to pick up the kids at school waiting with the rest of the parents, listening to complaints while she is worrying if her husband is dead or alive. God forbid anyone start to talk about Iraq or Afghanistan because she knows everyone has an opinion one way or the other while her only opinion is her husband wanted to serve the community and the country because he cared about these people who have ignored all he is doing.

The Pentagon also doesn’t account for soldiers who get divorced a year or two after leaving the military, Karney said. And divorce rates aren’t the only indicator that marriages are in trouble. It’s not unusual for estranged couples in the military to remain married to continue receiving higher housing payments. In addition, a civilian spouse who divorces a service member loses his or her military health coverage.

Meanwhile, combat veterans are at an increased risk of marital problems, according to studies. The rate of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased almost sixfold from 2003 to 2008, according to the Defense Department’s Medical Surveillance report issued in November.

Couples dealing with post-combat stress go through a period of trying to make their relationships work. “And this will serve to depress divorce in the short term. The problem is that families might not be able to sustain this [work on their relationship] over the long term,” Karney said.

His research found that military women have the harder time staying married. Divorce rates are two to three times higher for female service members than for men. The highest divorce rate occurs with military women married to civilian men.
read the rest of this here
Stress of separation takes its toll on military families

One more thing that hardly ever gets mentioned is these families plan their budgets on jobs but these jobs are not getting done while they are deployed. The jobs are supposed to be held for them but the pay checks don’t keep coming. There are a lot of families having to go onto food stamps because of these deployments. Too many times these citizen soldiers return to jobs that are gone in a bad economy and then have to explain to the unemployment office where they’ve been.

Last year a report came out on military families on food stamps.

More Troops Relying on Food Stamps

July 22, 2009
Military.com|by Bryan Mitchell
Military members and their families are using more food stamps than in previous years – redeeming them last year at nearly twice the civilian rate, according to Defense Commissary Agency figures.
The agency reports that more than $31 million worth of food stamps were used at commissaries nationwide in 2008 – an increase of about $6.2 million, or more than 25 percent – from the $24.8 million redeemed in 2007. That contrasts with a 13 percent overall increase in food stamp use by Americans for the same period, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program.
The spike reverses a 5 percent decrease in food stamp redemptions by military families from 2006 to 2007.
The commissary agency stressed that its figures include military retirees as well as Reservists and National Guardsmen who shop at its commissaries. Commissary agency officials were unable to provide numbers for the first half of 2009.
The rise in food stamp usage in the military may also be attributed to a recent change in the way the program is administered. Program users may now use a debit card to buy with food stamps rather than traditional paper vouchers – decreasing their visibility and so eliminating any stigma or reluctance to using the government-funded aid.
More Troops Relying on Food Stamps

If you think it is bad for your average citizen to pay the bills, think of risking your life and then finding out you can’t afford to buy food for your family.

But none of this is new for members of congress who have a record of voting against the men and women serving it remarkably voting in favor of defense contractors with no apprehension at all.

Like Boozman

OCTOBER 19, 2010 • 9:38 PM
Boozman consistently votes against military and veterans

From a Blanche Lincoln press release.

Last week, Congressman John Boozman staged a press conference and called Senator Blanche Lincoln a liar. Aside from owing Senator Lincoln an apology, he owes Arkansas voters an explanation as to why he voted against stand-alone provisions that added money for health care services to National Guard and Reservists; provided transitional job training for military personnel; and provided debt assistance for returning Guard and Reservists.
You can read about some more of his votes here
Boozman consistently votes against military and veterans

Please read the rest of this report and then take the time to contact your member of congress and take a stand for the men and women being forced to suffer for their willingness to serve.Stress of separation takes its toll on military families