Building (Family) Muscle: How Prolonged Conflicts Can Strengthen Military Families
Abstract
Like the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines they support, military families of the 21st century face a great deal of uncertainty. Today's adversary is terrorism, and elusive enemies combined with amorphous strategies make it difficult to quantify victory. The threat requires a flexible, responsive, and at times reactive military force. This environment -- volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous -- (VUCA) is characteristic of an era of persistent conflict and creates additional pressures for military families. Frequent deployments to combat zones are one aspect of this environment, and perhaps the greatest contributor to the strain military families experience. Despite the well-publicized negative impact deployments may create, they serve as an important and sometimes necessary tool in building strong and resilient military families. This paper contends that the experiences of protracted separations can serve to strengthen, rather than weaken, military families. They are necessary rites of passage that will help military families better cope with an uncertain future. The paper also will examine how changes in society have forced the services to modify their attitudes and policies toward military families. Finally, the paper will provide recommendations for areas that may require additional study and research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 12, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA560152
Entities
People
- Jeffrey Fletcher
Organizations
- United States Army War College