{"id":472,"date":"2004-12-29T23:22:00","date_gmt":"2004-12-30T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=472"},"modified":"2004-12-29T23:22:49","modified_gmt":"2004-12-30T05:22:49","slug":"2-million-to-save-army-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/?p=472","title":{"rendered":"$2 Million to Save Army Marriages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—Dwight D. Eisenhower<\/p>\n

Recognizing the obviously detrimental effect of homefront instability on soldiers, the Army is investing in programs to salvage and strengthen marriages<\/a> among its troops.<\/p>\n

With studies showing divorce rates as high as 21 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off to war, the Army is spending $2 million on a variety of marriage programs, including vouchers for romantic getaways to places like the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been in the Army 20 years, and I’ve never seen the Army pay for programs like this,” said Lt. Col. Chester Egert, chaplain for the 101st.<\/p>\n

One program being implemented Army-wide teaches couples forgiveness and the skills to communicate. It includes a 40-hour course with lessons on the dangers of alcohol and tobacco and how to recognize post-traumatic stress. Soldiers who complete it are rewarded with promotion points and a weekend retreat with their spouse.<\/p>\n

“If you learn those skills, you can make an impact on the number of divorces, and the number, we think, of reports of physical violence,” said Col. Glen Bloomstrom, director of ministry initiatives for the Chief of Chaplains.<\/p>\n

To make the program more desirable, commanders are encouraged to give their soldiers time off to attend. Baby-sitting is often provided.<\/p>\n

“What we’re trying to do is change the culture, that it’s OK to work on your marriage and take some time, and invest in your lifelong relationship — especially now when we’re asking so much of your military spouses,” Bloomstrom said.<\/p>\n

….<\/p>\n

The Army’s recent foray into marriage counseling was started in the late 1990s by a chaplain in Hawaii working with a unit with a high number of divorces. In 2001, laws were changed to allow the Army to pay for lodging and meals for the retreats.<\/p>\n

….<\/p>\n

Egert said the Army’s effort doesn’t just make for stronger families — it makes for better soldiers.<\/p>\n

“Soldiers will come apart in Afghanistan and Iraq. They’ll absolutely collapse if they think their wife is going to leave them or their husband is going to leave them,” Egert said. “I’ve seen soldiers hospitalized because they absolutely had a nervous breakdown because they were worried about their families.”<\/p>\n

Added Bloomstrom: “You are really giving something that the couples know they need, at a time they may be receptive to hear it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have a little experience in these kind of matters, though only enough to give me a window through which I can peek and gain a small measure of understanding. While at my initial training at Ft. Knox, I was dumped via letter by my girlfriend at the time. Granted, it was nowhere near the ordeal of a divorce or a custody battle, but it most assuredly had an effect on my personal morale and motivation.<\/p>\n

I support the aims of the Army’s programs and recognize their potential value. My only question is the awarding of promotion points for involvement — this seams an unfair and unnecessary advantage to married personnel as opposed to their single counterparts. Marriage already has a financial inducement in the services, not to mention the nice little get-aways, etc., mentioned in this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars. —Dwight D. Eisenhower Recognizing the obviously detrimental effect of homefront instability on soldiers, the Army is investing in programs to salvage and strengthen marriages among its troops. With studies showing divorce rates as high as 21 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-military"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/targetcentermass.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}