Today's military is, more than ever, a family military. More than 60 percent of the troops are married. The unmarried service member is an important Times reader, too. While these men and women share many of the same concerns as anyone in uniform, they are particularly eager to learn ways to improve their quality of life. That could mean knowing more about recreational options off base, how to find friends or a date, or what to look for in a new motorcycle.
Most service members commute to their military jobs from homes in civilian communities.
Still, government housing is a valuable benefit for the 1 in 4 families who live on base. That means many of our readers repeatedly face the need to connect to their local community, even as they know they probably will be moving within a few years. Even routine training and exercises lasting a few days at a time can add up to several months that service members will spend away from home each year. And some overseas missions, such as peacekeeping in the Balkans, separate service members from their homes and families for as long as a year. Each time a married service member deploys, the spouse left behind has to manage the household and assume all the challenges of single parenthood.