For those who are or were married during your time in service, how has marriage supported and sustained you?

PO3 Phyllis Maynard — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 05:29:57 -0500

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Feb 21 at 2026 6:49 AM

Lt Col Charlie Brown — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 06:49:35 -0500

Married right out of Officers' Training School. i know I would not have made the service a career if I hadn't been married to my spouse...he has always been supportive...even when we were in head to head competition.

Response by Cpl Vic Burk made Feb 21 at 2026 7:53 AM

Cpl Vic Burk — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 07:53:34 -0500

PO3 Phyllis Maynard I refused to get married while on active duty. I saw too may problems with married guys because of deployments and other responsibilities that come with military life. My future father in law (Navy Veteran) told me I was making the right decision also.

Response by SP5 Dennis Loberger made Feb 21 at 2026 9:29 AM

SP5 Dennis Loberger — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:29:49 -0500

Married with 2 kids before I entered the Army. In my time, the primary form of communication was letters. A short phone call back them could cost $95. That was a large chunk of an E2 monthly pay ($355.80 per month). Letters were like Christmas gifts when you are half way around the world and your wife and kids are at home

Response by SSgt Richard Kensinger made Feb 21 at 2026 9:42 AM

SSgt Richard Kensinger — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 09:42:05 -0500

extremely important and a necessary component of my formation and enculturation
rich

Response by SGT Kevin Hughes made Feb 21 at 2026 10:58 AM

SGT Kevin Hughes — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 10:58:32 -0500

I wrote a long response, and deleted it. Kathy and I grew stronger because of our marriage while in the Army. And we took those skills into Civilian life, which had way less complications than the Military Did...and no unexpected separations caused by TDY or Deployment. Young marriages especially if you live on Post, have pitfalls that Civilian Spouses just don't deal with. Not the least of which is that there are 25,000 men of varying sizes and shapes that just want to get in your pants...once. You can resist one or two, but the chances of one of those Soldiers being someone you actually would have dated when single...goes way up. And then, time, opportunity, and nature take a shot. It ain't easy.
But I have to say, marriages that thrive in the Military are some of the strongest marriages you will ever see.

Response by Maj Robert Thornton made Feb 21 at 2026 11:11 AM

Maj Robert Thornton — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 11:11:30 -0500

Actually my wife signed her contract with the Sumter County, SC school system before I inked my papers and took my oath of office headed to Shaw AFB.

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Feb 21 at 2026 11:35 AM

MAJ Byron Oyler — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 11:35:53 -0500

I was half-way through my career when I married and had a son. I told my wife from day one that everything we have is because of the army. She listened and now we are enjoy my army retirement.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Feb 21 at 2026 1:50 PM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 13:50:10 -0500

Since I was already in active duty when I met Vicki on a blind date while enroute to B-52 training, she knew what she was getting into. My status didn't seem to deter her, so that was a good sign. To keep things short, the knowledge of her ability to go with the flow and deal with whatever came up, whether I was there or not, was all the support I needed. 56 years later we're still together so guess that's support and sustainment enough!