How to Keep a Military Marriage Together Through a Deployment

Military marriages are known for high divorce rates, even higher then civilian divorce rates, which are extremely high at this point. Our country is in the middle of a War and many wives find themselves unable to handle the long deployments, which range from six to eighteen months, sometimes longer. I'm newly married to a man in the Navy and newly pregnant, well not newly pregnant, I'm due any day now and I know my husband wont be present for the birth of the baby and that's not easy on either one of us. But it's all about understanding.

There are some helpful tips I can offer to the help the process of getting thru these deployments. I know how hard it is on both husband and wife. But we need to understand that deployments are a necessary evil when you marry into any branch of the military. First off communication is key. Email and writing letters become a regular part of your everyday life. I personally have found myself checking my email numerous times a day to see if I had received an email from my husband. Phone calls are very few and far between, and usually in most cases very short phone calls. I think most military wives expect to hear from their husbands daily by at least email, but this expectation is unrealistic. Expecting them to quickly respond is unfair, you have no idea what they are doing or what they are dealing with. Sometimes it's impossible for your spouse to communicate with you.