{"id":59204,"date":"2019-02-22T01:32:28","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T01:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/22\/spouses-have-more-problems-less-support-during-deployments-survey-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:34:23","slug":"spouses-have-more-problems-less-support-during-deployments-survey-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2019\/02\/22\/spouses-have-more-problems-less-support-during-deployments-survey-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Spouses have more problems, less support during deployments, survey finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some disturbing trends related to deployments<\/a> have emerged from the most recent survey of military spouses, according to military family advocates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just 19 percent of spouses indicated they had excellent or very good military support <\/a>during their service member\u2019s most recent deployment, lower than what spouses reported in 2015. The incidence of problems that spouses experienced during that most recent deployment were significantly higher in 2017 than in 2015, and 23 percent indicated difficult readjustments to their service member\u2019s return from deployment, also higher than 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat that tells me is that something\u2019s going on in a bad way with the level of support offered families during deployments,\u201d said Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen it comes to deployments, these spouses are the canaries in the coal mine,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to put deployment support back in the vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the height of the wars, it seemed everyone had someone deployed, and there was a lot of support from the military as well as the private sector. As deployments have gotten less common, \u201cI think families get more isolated,\u201d Raezer said. But it helps to connect with others who are going through the same experience, she said. \u201cIf everyone is going through the same thing you are, even though it\u2019s rough, it\u2019s a little easier to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As deployments have decreased, support programs have also diminished, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t