How do you manage family life and relationships while serving in a branch of the military?

The Navy, in particular, how often do you get to be home?How do you manage family life and relationships while serving in a branch of the military?
If you are on shore duty, then you go home every night to your barracks or your home, ( if you have family there to live with and authorized to live off base) You go and do your job, you have random duty .. to do, that may require all night, or one day on the weekend, but for the most part it is a job, like any job,





But if your on ship duty, then needless to say, that is different, but you dont have to be on ship duty all the time, and even then, you re not out to sea all the time, you can go out for about 6 months, then back in, so you dont go years without seeing your family member,





SO its not that hard, many ,many manage to maintain good solid relationship.





GOOD LUCKHow do you manage family life and relationships while serving in a branch of the military?
I don't know about the Navy but in the Army I get to see him sometimes 2 or more times a year (for two weeks at a time or a little longer) and if he is stationed near where I live I get to see more often and if on a tour don't get him for a long long time.





Communication is key! Tell your significant other when you can talk and when you can't. 1 letter every 3 or 4 months is enough (more is appreciated but anything means more than you could know). Same for your loved one at home, be sure to tell them to send you lots of love!! Bc a card in the mail will mean more to you than you ever thought possible when stationed far far away from home.





Communication will save a marriage or a union.
With a whole lotta honesty, flexibility and faith in each other.


As far as how often goes: depends. Ship or shore rotation? Underways? deployments? Sometimes its harder than others. My husbands ship had the dubious distinction of being one of the most sea going vessels in the fleet. He was home for 26 days last year, and just completed his second deployment in 18 mos. You do the math-- not home much.


However, that said, he's got orders again to a new command and this one (he assures me) will have him home more often. Well, anything is more often than these last 2 yrs, right? :)


Navy life you learn to live alone (both of you) and how to really enjoy each other when you are together.