Does Deployment Keep Military Marriages Together or Break them Apart? Evidence from Afghanistan and Iraq

Marriages under stress are generally at increased risk of ending in separation and divorce. Since 2001, military marriages have been under unprecedented levels of stress, with deployments longer and more frequent than in recent decades. The analyses described here drew from the personnel records and deployment histories for the entire population of the U.S. military to estimate the effects of time deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq on the subsequent risk that a military couple will dissolve their marriage in the first 3 years of the conflict. Contrary to expectations, time deployed was associated with reduced risk of marital dissolution for most of the military, and longer time deployed was associated with greater reductions in risk. Moreover, the benefits of deployment were greater for younger couples and couples with children. Together, these results highlight the frequently overlooked role of supportive institutions in promoting resilience in marriages under stress.