ALCOHOL FACTORING IN FAMILY DYNAMICS IN THE MILITARY

Many military families suffer from the huge presence of alcohol in their families. Much drinking takes place due to the stresses of the military style of life because of frequent relocations, usually every year or two, and adjusting to different cultures wherever the family lives. New languages, climates, friends, schools, etc., impact the families' lifestyles. I know in my own family where my father was a major in the army this was so. My mother had to raise my sister and me by herself while Dad was undergoing training in different states or overseas for up to two years. She had to manage with one income as most women didn't work in the fifties. Because she often didn't have enough money to pay the bills as she depended on Dad to mail her money, we often went without even though he was an officer. When he was in Iran for two years, for example, she wrote him a letter in desperation once over this splitting of his income, and officers got paid less back in those days than they do now. also, officers' wives weren't supposed to work back then as it was a cultural thing for them not to. Today, officers get paid more;however, there are additional problems with the greater use of psychoactive medications and prevalence of street drugs in our culture, mostly used by teenagers. Today's military families face even greater stresses. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq really haven't helped the matter, any! With more fighting women and men being stationed overseas, I perceive even more problems with alcohol and drugs than before. Much of this, of course, has been hushed by the military in order to maintain respect for our fighting men and women overseas. The sign of modern times.