Why would junior enlisted Soldiers get into contract marriages?

&nbsp; &nbsp;I truly wish that I could add something wise to this conversation, but I'm thinking, that my husband and I were much like many of the couples that get married quickly.<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; We knew each other for a week before he asked me to marry him, and I pretty much froze at that point, liike the proverbial 'Deer in the headlights.' &nbsp; On one hand, the second I saw him, I just KNEW it was HIM... and I know that makes no sense to most men, but its just the way I felt. &nbsp; We were married before a month was out, and 34 years later, we are still best friends, still laughing at each others jokes, and still as amazed at our luck at finding each other as we felt that first day.</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;I am sure that there were many who had the idea that ours was a marriage of &nbsp;opportunity, to get us out of the barracks, and I can't cast any stones when I'm living in that paticular glass house, so this is one weighty conversation that I won't be able to take part in, but I will be reading from the sidelines!</div>

<p>I had a roommate a long, long time ago, who had, what he called, a "financial marriage type relationship" with a friend of his from high school.&nbsp; He joined the Army and she went off to college.&nbsp; They were "married" and they split the Family Separation and other monetary benefits.&nbsp;&nbsp;He got out of the Army after his initial enlistment, went back to Iowa and they got a divorce.&nbsp; Back then I was very young and thought it was a "great idea."&nbsp; You get paid and there are no strings attached.&nbsp; Age and wisdom have changed that&nbsp;way of thinking.&nbsp; </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>I&nbsp;personally and professionally do&nbsp;not promote this type of behavior.&nbsp; I will not get into a "sanctity of marriage" debate, but what is occurring is a defrauding of the government and theft of services, entitlements and benefits.</p>

It's been happening for as long as Ive been in the Corps.  A lot of people are motivated by money with these contract marriages and end up losing money when that contracted spouse takes your half after it ends.  I couldn't marry until approved through the chain of command, that insured Marines were marrying for the right reasons.

I don't agree with it, but, just by how the single soldiers are treated in the barracks, I can understand why they would. I didn't like getting my room inspected when I lived in the barracks. It was my "home," and I understand the reasons behind it, but, I could also see the frustration it brought when it was almost a weekly ordeal. There was no incentive if you did a great job with a clean room, then again, it is expected that you live in a clean environment. They sometimes live in deplorable conditions, and would have some place better off-post. Sometimes the rooms they live in should be condemned, but we still shove them into rooms. There can be blame thrown anywhere, but I understand why they do it. I may not agree with it, and I don't know how you could prove that it is fraud, but, I think that it has gotten to the time that we should be like the Air Force. After a certain amount of time at E-4, you are authorized to live off-post. I have lived in mold infested barracks rooms before, and the leadership knew about it, and they still moved us in. Single soldiers do get crapped on, and I know they do it to get out of the barracks.

Junior enlisted? I get proposed to once a month and I promise, it's not just juniors. 

Remember the good old days when you needed your CO to approve of you getting married if you were below E-5? Me either. But it was a good idea.

I can see them ending badly.

SSG DeSerio,

I served in the Army for 12 years and this was one of the most disgusting displays of scamming the system is when a soldier away from home for the first time in their lives enlists or commissions in the military and during Basic and AIT find out about the benefits of being married and decide to find another service member who they "fall madly in love" with their battle buddies and as soon as they finish training they tie the knot so that they can be assigned together and get housing together. I have also personally experienced soldiers who couldn't wait to finish training and made sure that they got pregnant before getting to their first duty station.

Soldiers would show up pregnant, which would put them on profile from the day they in-process and do less work, Pregnancy PT (unless they were sick, I always got a kick out of that one) oh and because they were pregnant, exempt from PT Tests and 24 hour duty as well.

I am a firm believer in the old army custom of allowing soldiers to marry only after having a meeting with the Company Commander who approves of this marriage being allowed to happen. Soldiers today see getting married/pregnant as their ticket out of all of the duty and requirements of being a soldier.

I personally would take this to the next level, going so far as to strictly prohibit soldiers from being allowed to get married or pregnant until they have completed at least 2 years of full duty. I have personally seen the scum of the earth being allowed into the military and then they do stuff like this and all of a sudden they are getting promoted to E-4 without doing anything. It drove me crazy to see the shammers of the military getting promoted above myself and other hard working soldiers for doing less and not holding up the values of military service.

Back then I was single and was not a huge fan of living in the barracks but I was not going to skip out on duty, work, PT or anything that was going to dishonor my service and hated seeing others not care or value their commitment at all.

I can tell you it isn't just Junior Enlisted Soldiers.  I know personaly that it also envolves Junior and Senior Officers...I had to restore email data from an 0-5 (single - divorced) who was in the process of a contract marriage with a Russian woman - didn't break the law, but questionable...But it does happen across all ranks..