How to Support a Spouse in the Army

When your spouse chooses to make the Army his career it also affects your life. There are support systems in place within the military to help spouses deal with deployments and other separations, child care and daily life. Within your marriage, you are the support system for your Army spouse, and there are many ways to support a spouse in the Army. Here are a few that will help.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. The number one thing you can do to support your spouse is let him know that you are happy with his career choice. Emphasize that you support his wanting to be in the Army, and that you are proud of him.

2. Along with offering your support, you need to let him know that you can take care of things while he is away. Assure him that you are capable of watching the children and keeping the bills and house in order when he has to go on deployments or into active duty. Assure him that you are self sufficient enough to handle things so that he doesn’t have the extra burden of worrying about you and the kids while doing dangerous missions.

3. While you will definitely miss him when he’s away, you shouldn’t make the majority of any calls that you receive revolve around when he’s coming home. Don’t make him feel bad for doing his job and serving his country. Know that he misses you but is doing something that he believes in and that is vital to our country. Be proud of him and let it show when he calls.

4. A great way to support a spouse in the Army is to become active in associations geared towards wives. These associations help new recruits and their families deal with everything and learn how the Army works. They also have group birthday parties for children, call around and check on each other during deployments, and keep each other up to date on what’s going on with the spouses. By joining you show that you are involved with your spouse’s career and are making the best of things. You let him know that you are doing your part at home while he is away, and that he will be able to get to you through the associations if needed. Joining an association such as this will also help you get to know the wives of your spouse’s friends and give you an outlet. It’s a win-win situation.

5. Finally, when he is home have activities planned that you know he likes, but also realize that he will need down time after deployments or active duty missions. He will have missed you and the children and want to spend time with each of you as much as you want to spend time with him. Don’t hit him with problems as soon as he walks in the door, give him time to relax and get back into the swing of things first. Offering support to a spouse in the Army isn’t hard; it’s basically common sense stuff. You can do it, and you can make his time in the military a success for all involved.

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[koryklk]

on 7/31/2009 Great tips on supporting your military spouse. Step one is very important. It will help your soldier strive to do his/her best. 5*