Effect of deployment on military marriages?

[Cavguy]

Hi,

I read this article and wondered what people here thought of it. Have you noticed any increase in divorce over the last 8 years of war?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_military_divorces

Naomi

I would suppose it is higher - a 15 and 14 month tour, respectively, placed my marriage under a great deal of strain - then again, the wife sometimes says my second 14 month absence may have saved our marriage!

Anecdotally, I will say that fewer junior enlisted and officers seem to be married now than when I first came in the Army - part of the consequence of not being around long enough to court a spouse and then convince her to accept a marriage to someone who will be gone on a 1:1 or 1:2 basis pretty much indefinitely.

That said, I also believe there has been a military "baby boom", usually coinciding 9 months after returning from combat!