The Family Dynamics within the Military

The Family Dynamics within the Military The family dynamics have been changing from the typical family that consists of a husband, wife, and children to other nontraditional forms. The military culture has accepted family diversities, including various structures, such as single parenting, stepfamilies, and same-sex families. Ideally, diversification has made the family systems exist in different ways, unlike the traditionally known family systems.

Remarried Couples and Stepfamilies Transitioning from divorce to remarrying leads to an increase in stepfamilies and a change in children's experiences of a family. Ideally, remarriage leads to a complex rearrangement of the marital bond, thus the need to change the military culture to accommodate these transformations.

For instance, one of the parents becomes a step-parent, while the children become nonresidential with or without particle custody. Stepfamilies are different from the first biological family in many diverse ways. For example, the loss of the first family means a loss in dreams, expectations, and new changes and moves that may be uncomfortable, especially for the children. The families could also be challenged by visitation and custody of the children.

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However, stepfamilies are healthy and functional depending on the parents' knowledge of caring for the children. These families have the potential to gather a vast range of resources to ensure comfort, care, support, values, and information. Society is also gradually accepting stepfamilies across generations, thus allowing the children to gain an additional sense of autonomy, which is unavailable in an isolated biological family. Notably, the military culture has allowed stepfamilies, enabling military children to grow in a loving and hopeful family and learn resilience through loss, fear, failure, and transformations.

Single Service Families Single parents in the military experience more problems than other spouses, especially in raising their children. Hall (2016) evaluates how they leave the children with their grandparents, who also need to be taken care of, as they carry on with their responsibilities in the military. The issues are increased in cases where the single parent is deployed. Leaving children with relatives and extended families when deployed has caused single parents Post-Traumatic disorder (PTSD) since the question of whose responsibility it is to help has not yet been answered.

The military is gradually making amendments to enhance the safety and care of single parents' children when deployed. The department is determined to assist the guardians by providing counseling services. Further, they can easily access the help of an attorney for the children in case of emergencies. Thus, the military is developing a culture that will help the single military parent with Family Care Plans (FCP).

Same-sex Military Couples The LGBTQ notion has changed the military culture. Same-sex military couples were not recognized until the Supreme Court ruled out marriage equality, implying that legally-married

same-sex couples should enjoy benefits other couples enjoy. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) extended its benefits to this nontraditional couple like any other military couple.

However, there are challenges in evaluating if these couples are in a romantic relationship with a civilian or another service member. Thus, it demands obligatory ethics and high-level professionalism to stand out as a gay couple in the military.

Gay couples experience additional military challenges compared to heterosexual couples. For instance, apart from infidelity, communication issues, physical abuse, and substance abuse, there are additional concerns like detest by society and harassment from working mates. On the other hand, they enjoy other benefits that the heterosexual couple does not enjoy, for example, being dual-earners, the ability to share power and household duties equally, and thus increased flexibility. The rise of gay and lesbian couples has transformed the military culture to accommodate them by emphasizing that their relationships can and do succeed.

Challenges Created by Diversity within the Military Culture Diversity matters in the military and can lead to diverse challenges in the future. The military culture has transformed to be more lenient and allows nontraditional families, a practice that could be costly to the military. Moreover, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy to keep the military forces' sexuality private could do more harm than good. This policy risks the children of homosexual couples since they are likely to be kept a secret from the military and may not enjoy the VA benefits. On the other hand, revealing one's sexuality as a gay or lesbian could lead to sexual harassment or work discrimination in the military. Diversity has also encouraged employment decision that challenges the military's efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness.

Single parents struggle with FCP, child custodians, and financial plans, challenging their ability to render services efficiently.

Military culture has changed due to diversity and allowed several kinds of nontraditional families to be part of their operations. These families include single-parent families, stepfamilies, and same-sex families. These changes have recently been implemented to accommodate more potential force applicants. Although these transformations are an added advantage to the military and its army, such diversities risk the loss of efficiency and productivity in the military. Diversity has increased uncertainty in the military; for example, should single parents be deployed? Should the military disclose their sexual orientation? And how can the military extend their benefits to the stepfamilies more than they have provided to the biological family?