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Today, there are more military family members than there are total uniformed service members. Sixty percent of the military are married, including more than eighty percent of all career-status personnel, and many have small children. They come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and they represent a wide variety of family types, including single parents, dual career military couples, and families with eldercare responsibilities. In an effort to cut costs, many of the services utilized by military families are being privatized or outsourced to civilian service providers. This guide is designed to benefit anyone who provides services to these families, particularly those who may have little or no prior knowledge of the unique nature of military families and military family life.

This book contains research-based information about the unique needs of military families across various duty-related conditions, as well as within the context of military career demands. Its multi-service focus addresses the provision of human services in both peace and wartime. Topics include military spouse employment, retirement issues, family support during deployments, the New Parent Support Program, and the experiences of adult children of military parents. The authors encourage an understanding of military community-based programs and services, and they offer the reader numerous resources for collaboration with the military community.

JAMES A. MARTIN is Associate Professor at Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. He was senior social work officer in the Persian Gulf Theater of Operations during the Gulf War and is senior editor of The Gulf War and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Guide (Praeger, 1996).

LEORA N. ROSEN is a social science analyst with the National Institute of Justice in the Office of Research and Evaluation. She is a program manager and scientific adviser to the research program on Violence Against Women and Family Violence. She has authored or coauthored over fifty scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.

LINETTE R. SPARACINO is a developmental editor working on the Textbook of Military Medicine, an encyclopedic series on military-specific medicine produced by the Borden Institute, a special project of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army. She has spent her adult life in the military environment, both as a spouse and an employee, giving her personal insight into the agencies and programs described in this book.