Strain of war breaks up more Army marriages

Strain of war breaks up more Army marriages

News Tribune
Tacoma, WA - Thursday, June 30, 2005

DAVID CRARY; The Associated Press
Last updated: June 30th, 2005 07:01 AM (PDT)

NEW YORK - While U.S. casualties steadily mount in Iraq, another toll is rising rapidly on the home front: The Army's divorce rate has soared in the past three years, most notably for officers, as longer and more frequent war zone deployments place extra strain on couples.
"We've seen nothing like this before," said Col. Glen Bloomstrom, a chaplain who oversees family-support programs. "It indicates the amount of stress on couples, on families, as the Army conducts the global war on terrorism."

Between 2001 and 2004, divorces among active-duty Army officers and enlisted soldiers nearly doubled, from 5,658 to 10,477, even though total troop strength remained stable. In 2002, the divorce rate among officers was 1.9 percent - 1,060 divorces out of 54,542 marriages; by 2004, the rate had tripled to 6 percent, with 3,325 divorces out of 55,550 marriages.

There's no comparable system for tracking the national divorce rate, though according to the Centers for Disease Control, 43 percent of all first marriages end in divorce within 10 years.

With divorce rates that have risen more sharply than other service branches, the Army has broadened its efforts to help - offering confidential counseling hot lines, support groups for spouses, weekend couples' retreats, even advice to single soldiers on how to pick partners wisely. Bloomstrom says he wants all 2,400 of the Army's chaplains to be available for marriage-support work.

Staff Sgt. Allen Owens, a 15-year Army veteran, and his wife, Linda, praised a recent marriage retreat that they and 20 other couples from Fort Campbell, Ky., participated in with their chaplain at a hotel in Nashville, Tenn.

Owens was part of a 101st Airborne Division unit that advanced into Baghdad in the early phases of the Iraq war, and he expects at least one more stint in Iraq. That would again leave his wife alone with their four children. The weekend retreat, he said, offered a chance to "decompress and do an in-depth study of your relationship and your personalities."

Maj. Thomas Cox, the family life chaplain at Fort Lewis, said he has spoken with probably 6,000 soldiers and their spouses over the past three years. He said he tries to give them a clear idea of what things will be like when the soldier comes home - whether it's for midtour R&R or after a long deployment.

Chances are a returning combat veteran will be emotionally distant and angry. Spouses need to know that's normal, Cox said, and not respond with anger of their own.

"When they know what right looks like, they know they're normal," Cox said. "It reduces the stress."

There are mandatory family reintegration briefings that soldiers must attend after a deployment, that cover everything from finances to parenting.

"We are really trying to make a dent in this and to be encouraging," Cox said.

Officials at Fort Lewis said they didn't have specific figures for the divorce rate among soldiers stationed there.

Bloomstrom said the high divorce rate among officers was no surprise because they bear the brunt of implementing major changes in Army operations, often working 18 or more hours a day.

"Every aspect of the Army is changing," he said. "We've got some very loyal, dedicated military professionals stepping up to the plate, sometimes to the detriment of their families."

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