On behalf of The Law Offices of Mary Ann Beaty, PC posted in Military Divorce on Wednesday, December 17, 2014.

With America’s military engagements overseas over the past decade, greater attention has focused on the kinds of issues military service members face upon their return home. The difficulties posed by physical and psychological trauma, even with treatment, can be obstacles to work and family life, not to mention the stress of active deployment on a military family in Dallas. An interesting article recently looked at another phenomenon that also underscores the military divorce rate to some degree.

That phenomenon is the ages of servicemen and women who get married. Relative to civilian couples, they tend to tie the knot at a much earlier age. The U.S. Department of Defense notes that over 55 percent of active duty personnel are married, while over 40 percent are age 25 or younger and over 20 percent are between the ages of 26 and 30.

This isn’t a bad thing by any means. Some young soldiers find a sense of stability, of belonging in marriage, which helps them deal with the danger and the loss of their fellow friends in the service. The prospect of children to carry on a legacy also becomes important to service members facing the uncertainty of returning home from battle.

There are, however, very real challenges in a military marriage above and beyond the normal bumps in the road that any marriage endures. A military spouse sometimes needs to give the military top priority above all else, even the family. But young people in particular may be entering marriage with elevated expectations of romance and happiness.

Ultimately, the stresses and challenges of military service and related issues do lead to the end of the marriage for many of these young couples. When it does, they may be unprepared for the unique legal issues associated with a military divorce. We’ll look more at those in an upcoming entry on our blog.

Source: The Leaf-Chronicle, “Married military: Soldiers often marry young, and for good reasons,” Katelyn Clark, Dec. 13, 2014