Why do military men marry so young?

Question

I noticed that most military men marry young...what is your opinion on why?

...another thing...they marry several times..is it something having to do with the military?

Answer 1

bgray0360 has it right. Nowadays though, with the expansion of Divisions by 25% in the Army, the housing crunch on post is severe, and more single Soldiers are being allowed to live off post and collect BAH. I'd imagine it's unchanged for the other service branches. I know of more than one however who got married just so they could get out of the barracks and collect BAH, often marrying other Soldiers for the sake of convenience in "admin" marriages.

The deployment cycle impacts military personnel severely. Being away from anywhere from 3 months to upto a year over and over again hits marriages hard. I know in my infantry company, after our first year in Iraq in 2003, we had something like an astounding 80% divorce rate. It was surreal watching my friends get "Dear John" letters and returning to find that vindictive women gutted the bank accounts and the houses while the men could do nothing from overseas.

That sort of thing actually keeps a lot of young men from marrying until they get out of the service; or they get out to start a family. Being career and married is hard for the younger guys to sustain. Some of them make the wrong choices in who they choose to tie the knot with, and get played hard. For every abusive military husband who mistreats a woman, whether she's an American or foreign girl, there's a young G.I. out there who comes back to find the one person in the world who should have loved him most cleaned his savings out and skipped town.

Then again, bad things happen to people regardless of occupation. At least being married, even badly, is better than being an unwed single mother or an unwed father with illegitimate children by multiple women. Life is bad when it's bad for everyone, whether civilian or military.

Answer 2

There are many reasons, but most boil down to time. When you are constantly moving (most move an average of every 2-3 years), it's very hard to settle anywhere. Just when you get comfortable, it's time to plan on moving again. Because of this, when you meet people they are at various stages in their moving cycle. Time becomes much more precious when you meet someone you connect to. Emotions are also heightened, and in order to hang on to that feeling, they get married. Military life can be very lonely, especially if it's hard for you to make friends. Even if you have a lot of friends, there's still a void because the familiarness of family isn't there. I've seen this phenomenon outside of the military as well.

Marriage, divorce and prenancy happen way too often in the military. Much of the time the military member can spend deployed which makes is so easy for the spouse (or the member) to cheat. It's rare to see a couple who has not cheated on each other. Aside from cheating, divorce often results because the two people find they are incompatible or the military member is away too often. Military life is very hard on everyone.

Answer 3

Well, I can tell you why I did. When I went into the military, I was grabbing onto everything I could that resembled the life I was leaving behind. Instead of realizing that it wasn't possible, I married, and subsequently divorced my high school girlfriend. Have remarried, and been married for 11-1/2 years, and have 4 kids with my current Wife. Wow, if I could do that whole thing over.

Answer 4

There are quite a few military people who marry young. For one thing, the military itself consists of a lot of young people. Another big reason is that a couple that marries gets a lot of benefits from the military that two unmarried people do not receive. When married, you get extra money for housing, you get travel pay for dependents (like yourself), the dependents get medical and dental benefits, PX and Commisary shopping privileges, and various base privileges that unmarried people do not get. You can get a housing allowance to live off base, or later on get housing on base.

Answer 5

One major contributing factor is that the barracks life is not the best. Although the Army is trying to make the barracks better for the single soldiers, it is still not any better than a dorm. Also, the soldiers hear that their married peers make extra money to be married (Basic Allowance for Housing-BAH)...but what they fail to realize is that after rent, utilities, insurance, etc. they are actually more in the hole.

I make sure that each of my soldiers has a well-prepared budget when they start thinking about getting married.

Another factor is deployment....there is definitely more money (Family Seperation Pay) for the married soldiers.

So, the basic answer to your question......money....I just wish a lot of the soldiers would think it through more thoroughly before plunging.

Answer 6

My brother married his wife when he was 17 and she was 16 and they have been married for 42 years and have 5 children and 17 grandchildren.

Answer 7

I'm not sure why that is, but I wish I could find me a nice man in uniform.

Answer 8

probably because they go out to war, and they want someone to be there for them that isnt a parent or sibling or just a friend. they want someone closer. they want to make sure they can live out their life before its too late.(i know its awful to say...)

Answer 9

because most have had an unstable family life and want to start anew,

and thats why they join the military, to feel like they belong

Answer 10

because living in the barracks alone and away from mom and dad sucks.