Military Families Offer a Lesson to Civilian Counterparts

Our military community has come to the forefront of public discussion of late.  The long-term effects of 10 years of sustained combat on service members, their families, and the communities where they live is something that can’t be relegated to the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other traditional military community players.  It will take a community centric approach to address wicked problems like reintegration, veteran employment and homelessness, mental health and the general wellness of our military families.

Thankfully our military community abounds with qualities like resilience, public service motivation, and social connectedness that lend themselves to maintaining a healthy, thriving society.

Many military families have the same life experiences common to many families, including balancing work and family, parenting issues such as care-giving and education concerns, and maintaining healthy relationships. They also have unique stressors relating to the requirements of the military lifestyle. We are more likely to move than our civilian peers; we have added stresses on our relationships and mental health and wellness related to repeated deployment cycles and the reintegration process when our service members come home. Click here to read the rest of this entry!