The Rand Corporation recently posted the results of their study into military divorce statistics, and the numbers suggest separation in the army, navy, and Air Force are on the decline. Soldiers are filing for divorce with less frequency. Some experts have attributed this phenomenon to the relative decline of American military action in the Middle East, and the figures may apply to servicemembers residing in Connecticut.
It is a commonly held belief that long periods of deployment can have an adverse effect on a military marriage or family, particularly if both spouses are in the military. With tensions dropping from the height of the Iraq war, deployments are becoming shorter, which some Rand experts believe is partly why divorce rates are dropping as well. The numbers themselves refer to the number of soldiers and officers who have officially informed the Department of Defense of a divorce proceeding in order to change the way their benefits are disseminated.
According to the study, the overall rate of military divorce has dropped from 3.5 to 3.4 percent since the last fiscal year. Women in the military, particularly, have scaled back on divorce filings, from 8 percent to only 7.2 percent filing for divorce this year. The military branch with the most divorces per capita is the Air Force with a 4.3 percent divorce rate.
The pressures of serving in the military in potentially dangerous situations cannot be understated. Connecticut men and women serving in the armed forces understand how those pressures can lead to marital problems and, occasionally, to a separation or divorce. In these situations it is important for both individuals to have a clear understanding of how a military divorce is different from one filed in civilian life.
Source: militarytimes.com, Military divorce rate ticks downward, Andrew Tilghman, Dec. 19, 2013