Military Personnel and their Children - Research Proposal Example

Military Personnel and their Children: The Struggles of Being a Single Military Parent INTRODUCTION Generally, as of 2007, there are 13.6 million single parents in the United States (Wolf, 2007). Based from the United States Census Bureau, 84% of the single parents are mothers while 16% only are men. Moreover, they are mostly divorced and separated (44% for women and 57% for men) rather than unwed and widowed. Fortunately, they are employed and work full time, especially the men since half of the single mothers works full time. As a result, there are only small portion of children who have single parents that lives in poverty, however, only 31% of single parents receives public assistance. The discussion in this paper is mainly about single parents, but not in the general population, the main focus would be the single parents in the military. The United States Army consists of combat, and aviation and water transport service forces (Lawrence, 2002). It is well-ordered, trained and well-equipped in order to be capable of combating on land. It has two major responsibilities and they are (1) to prepare the land forces for war, and (2) expand the peacetime components needed by the army to fulfill the war’s needs. In the early 1990s, the number or single parents in the military increased (Zellman, Johansen, Meredith, & Selvin, 1992). Civilian single parents already encounter huge problems with their children that leads to work disruptions, thus, these problems is also likely to occur to single parents in the military as they work with longer and unforeseen hours. In 1992, single custodial parents in the military reached a number or 66,000 and this caused a slight problem as not all of them were able to leave for the Persian Gulf War (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). The Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, then, asked the Pentagon to review their policies regarding deployment of military personnel. The single parents in the military are not only the ones having the said dilemmas; there were also the dual military families or those whose parents are both in the military. In the early 1990s, 2.9% of the active duty personnel are dual military families (Zellman et al., 1992). Along with single parents, they composed 7% of the active duty armed forces and were also hindered to be deployed for the Persian Gulf War due to their incapability of leaving their family behind. The Commission proposed not to allow single parents and dual military families to be deployed for the sake of their children (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). Research Problem and Objective This paper would focus on answering the problem of how does single military parents manage to deal being a parent and a part of the military at the same time. In order to do so, the researcher should find out how the lives of the single military parents go. The main objective of this study is to learn how the single parents in the military deals with every problem that they encounter. Significance of the Study This study would be helpful to single military parents who have just entered the military. They could learn on how they could balance their responsibility as a parent and as a part of the military. This also could help the government on how they could help the single military parents especially when it comes to their children. LITERATURE REVIEW Significant Problems of Single Military Parents Married military personnel are always faced with the following problems: saving money through military salary, deployment, single-parent guidance for a long time, and other lifestyle issues. However, to a single parent in the military, these problems are doubled as they encounter other problems as losing custody of their child to the other parent. On the early 1990s, 60% of the single military parents are custodial parents (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). Moreover, according to Lawrence (2002), most of the custodial parents are women even though one-third of the single parents in the military are men. There were single military parents who leave the service, especially the women, due to frequent relocations due to military moves. They felt that they should prioritize their family life and the interest of their children (Lawrence, 2002). There is also the costly military daycare – Child Development Center (CDC) – which the government provides for the children of the military personnel. Single military parents also have to deal with overnight duties, field exercises, sudden deployments, physical trainings and motor pools. Single parents in the military are always confronted with a dilemma whenever they get deployed by the Army. Compared to married military personnel whose spouse is not a member of the Army, they could live their children behind in a much easier fashion with their spouse whenever they are deployed. However, single parents in the military lose their rights as the primary custody of his or her child to another person voluntarily (Robinson, 2008). It could either be that the child would live with a relative or to the other parent. Thus, this could result for the single military parent to totally lose his or her custody to the child since, as of the present, the law does not totally protect them from losing their permanent custody over their child. Before the single parent in the military gets deployed, there will be a filing of modification of custody and ordering of the change in the custody temporarily, thus, this could be a way for the other parent to slowly gain the permanent custody over their child (Robinson, 2008). Indeed, many single military parents return to their home only to be sued for custody, and unfortunately for them, the court always takes their job at the military as one of the factors in making their decision. Just like in the case of Lt. Eva Crouch, who was sent away with the Kentucky National Guard for one and a half year and lost the custody of over her child a month after her ex-husband informed her that she could only take their child if she has a court order (Arrillaga, 2007). As of today, there were 140,000 single military parents who get confronted with the same situation. They lose their custody over their child due to the child’s best interest which is determined through stability, child’s emotional well-being and the parameters that does not go well with the military (Arrillaga, 2007). Increase of Single Parents in the Military Single military parents have increased throughout the years; as of 2007, 7.8% of the military are single parents (Powers, 2007). One of the possible reasons is due to the rise of military divorce. From 2001 to 2004, the military divorce rate went up to 4% (Leland, as cited from American for Divorce Reform, 2005). A military officer claimed that most military personnel called off their marriage during their deployment to Iraq. Among the active duty officers, 4.4% are divorced where, from this portion, 10% are female while there are only 3.3% are male (American for Divorce Reform, 2005). On the other hand, there are 6.3% men and 11.1% women that are divorced among the actively duty enlisted non-officers. On 2004, about 10,477 military personnel ended up their marriage with their spouses (Military.com, 2007). Various people have assumed it was because of the Iraq War and the unbearable stress from deployments especially when the Pentagon announced that the US is extending the tours of all military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a study held by Rand’s National Defense Research Institute, the divorce rate increased by 3% on 2005 on in all military branches just like back in 1996, however, back in the mid-1990s, the military personnel are not always being deployed unlike during the present. Moreover, when the Institute studied the records of the military personnel – they analyzed 6 million records of both men and women who served in the military five years before the infamous September 11, 2001 attacks. The Institute also looked over the records of those who got deployed and past studies about military divorce and found out that the longer military personnel is being deployed, the lesser is his or her risk of divorce (Military.com, 2007). In addition, people who are being asked to be enlisted do not view deployment in a totally negative way. One of the reasons why they avoid being joined in the military is because of the possibility of being injured or, worse, killed (Military.com, 2007). Nonetheless, they are aware of the benefits – additional salary, child care, health care, housing subsidies and emotional support from other military families. Also, most of the military personnel who got deployed view the said experience as significant and rewarding (Military.com, 2007). Other findings that the researchers accommodated were that women are the ones most likely to end their marriages twice as much than men (Military.com, 2007). The researchers put the blame of the inadequate programs the military provides for their families. In connection to this finding, it was said that women are most likely to be single parents than men in the military (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). In addition, the researchers also claimed that enlisted service members are most like the ones to end their marriages compared to the officers and they attributed this finding to the enlisted service members’ age. The rising divorce rate is also attributed the increasing number of military personnel getting married. During the height of the Persian Gulf War, the military have already noticed that more military personnel are already married and are already parents compared during the Vietnam War (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). Lastly, the researchers concluded that there is no clear connection between divorce and deployment as seen from the views of the military personnel who got deployed which are not totally negative (Military.com, 2007). Assistance for Single Military Parents On 1992, the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces suggested the Pentagon should look over their policy regarding the deployment of single parents. The Commission recommended for the single custodial military parents to be put on a non-deployable position or they could be discharge with a chance to go back without any loss of their ranks (Sagawa & Campbell, 1992). The military did considered changing their policy and one of them is allowing single parents who only had children recently to not deploy for a period of four months, however, this amendment was only applied on one military branch – the Navy. Nowadays, the military is no longer enlisting single parents due to the DoD Instruction 1342.19 or the “Family Care Plans”; however, if they became a single parent while on duty due to some incidents such as death of the husband or wife, divorce, adoption, etc. the military will not force them to leave as long as they are still able to comply with the family care requirements of the DoD and other regulations (Powers, 2007). There is also the Army Community Service which assists single military parents when it comes to developing a family care plan. In addition, there is also the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act which protects the single military parents from being evicted by the creditors of their property. RESEARCH METHODS Source of Data The data that would be used for the this study would come from past studies regarding single parents in the military, also, new set of information would also be gathered through interview. Participants would involve single parents serving in the military both female and male whether they are custodial or non-custodial parents. Data Collection The researcher would make use of a qualitative method which is interview, thus, to gather the needed data, the researcher would ask the following questions through an interview in order to have a better understanding of the current situation and past experiences of single military parents. 1. What are the necessary adjustments that you have to make for your child/children when you become a single parent? 2. How difficult is it to serve as a parent and a military at the same time? 3. For custodial parents: Does your ex-husband/ex-wife takes over the custody of your children temporarily if you get deployed? Are you afraid that you might lose your custody over your child/children because of your military duty? 4. For non-custodial parents: Did you voluntarily give up your custody over your child/children so that you could continue serving the military without any worries or did you lose custody over your child/children due to the courts decision after your deployment? 5. Are there any things you wish the military or the government would do to help you and the other single parents in the military? CONCLUSION Based on the secondary sources that were gathered and analyze, single parents in the military are increasing due mostly of divorce. Female single parents are having a much harder time than their male counterparts since most of the female single military parents are custodial parents and afraid to lose their custody over their child/children due to their military duties. Some single parents voluntarily gave up on their custody over their child/children custody because of the military requirements and also because of the costly military daycare and constant relocations that burdens the life their child/children. References Americans for Divorce Reform. (2005). Military divorce statistics. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from American for Divorce Reform website: http://www.divorcereform.org/mil.html Lawrence, C.P. (2002). How are females coping in todays army. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from University of Wisconsin-Stout website: http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2002/2002 lawrencec.pdf Military.com. (2007). Military divorce rates studied. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from Military.com website: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,132079,00.html Powers, R. (2007). What about the children?. Retrieved from About.com website: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/genfamily/a/familycare.htm Robinson, T. (2008). Military deployment and child custody. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from Parent Dish website: http://www.parentdish.com/2008/01/15/military-deployment-and-child- custody/ Sagawa, S. & Campbell, N.D. (1992). Recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces regarding parents in the military service. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from National Womens Law Center website: http://www.nwlc.org/ details.cfm?id=395§ion=military Wolf, J. (2007). Who is the "average" single parent?. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from About.com website: http://singleparents.about.com/od/legalissues/p/portrait.htm Zellman, G.L., Johansen, A., Meredith, L.S., & Selvin, M. (1992). Improving the delivery of military child care. Retrieved June 19, 2008 from RAND Corporation website: http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R4145/R4145.sec1.html Read More