Quality of Family Life While in the Military

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Racer77

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What are your experiences in the military with regard to family life? Not talking about deployment and being gone for many months. Does anyone feel that family suffers through the payback time? Or are there positives?

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That's a vague question.

If you're going to exclude the whole deployment issue, which obviously is going to be the single greatest burden on any family, it really comes down to how picky your family is going to be about
- the geographic location where the military moves you
- perhaps a smaller paycheck relative to your civilian peers (but they have student loans)

My wife/kids like the Navy. Except when I'm deployed (but you excluded that :D).


There are positives. Small military communities can be very nice to live in. Closely knit, shared sacrifice, family support during deployments. Generally good neighbors. The community tends to appreciate the presence of the base because of the huge economic input it creates. What's not to like?
 
That's a vague question.

If you're going to exclude the whole deployment issue, which obviously is going to be the single greatest burden on any family, it really comes down to how picky your family is going to be about
- the geographic location where the military moves you
- perhaps a smaller paycheck relative to your civilian peers (but they have student loans)

My wife/kids like the Navy. Except when I'm deployed (but you excluded that :D).


There are positives. Small military communities can be very nice to live in. Closely knit, shared sacrifice, family support during deployments. Generally good neighbors. The community tends to appreciate the presence of the base because of the huge economic input it creates. What's not to like?

I would add the potential strain constant moving places on a spouses career to the list...
 
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The geographic issue is a big one. Constant moves are tough for several reasons. You'll likely not be close to family, which may not sound like a big deal until you have children. Kids are a lot of work, and having grandparents around to help out is huge. Also, the frequent moves make it difficult to make close friends.
 
Thanks for the replies. Yeah sort of meant it to be vague. I wanted to see how and what all people would say about it. Seeing as how I almost already have a family this is a big concern that they will be happy. I know that working in the military is less than glamorous and I could deal with that. It comes down though, to if my family is happy.
 
Well I am Army. Short of the Medcens, there are some pretty crappy locations in fairly remote locals. If one's spouse is flexible about finding work or stays at home, then it's not such a big deal. However, if one's spouse is a professional (lawyer, accountant, research scientist etc), those types of jobs are not readily available somewhere like Waynesville Missouri where the majority of jobs are related to the base. I know of several guys from my fellowship program who ended up doing the long-distance thing with their wife once they got posted for their new assignments because their wives had good careers.
 
Flexibility is, of course, the most important attribute.

Resident in my program had orders pulled at the last minute because the dude at that location decided to extend. Nothing like getting the whole family ready to move and having the detailer call and say, "So....did you have anywhere else in mind?" 1 month prior to transfer. :D
 
Flexibility is, of course, the most important attribute.

Resident in my program had orders pulled at the last minute because the dude at that location decided to extend. Nothing like getting the whole family ready to move and having the detailer call and say, "So....did you have anywhere else in mind?" 1 month prior to transfer. :D

Even better is finding out you're extended in your current billet because the guy who was replacing you failed his last 3 PRTs.

Or being told 6 months into your current gig, "We have a hot fill and you are the only one in the Navy who can fill it.........":eek:
 
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