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