Parental Separation and the Military Child

Paternal seperation due to the non-accompanied tour presents significant problems for the military family. It is not unusual for the military pediatrician to see children with various somatic complaints or disciplinary problems, which started abruptly with the departure of the father. The mother and child may be under significant emotional stress. Severity of problems occasionally merits an attempt by the physician to obtain compassionate reassignment or concurrent travel. Results of such efforts are inconsistent and often unsatisfactory for the continued emotional stability of the family, and indeed the degree of performance of the Serviceman himself. While extreme hardship cases are most easily remembered, it is obvious that the majority of sperated tours do not require medical intervention. Futhermore, it is impossible to provide concurrent travel to all duty stations. In order to help determine the prevalence and severity of of behavioral and somatic problems exhibited by the children of the separated serviceman, a retrospective questionnaire was designed.