Basic Training Doesn't Last Forever
The best military relationship advice is this: You can be just as strong apart as you are together — if you're willing. With every day that passes, you're that much closer to seeing your other half graduate from basic training.
After completion of first duty station, more effort will be put into being stationed at the same place or with only one member in a deployable status. You will be able to move with your spouse when they are done with basic training and school.
Spouses are not allowed to live with their soldiers during basic training. Soldiers are required to live on post in the barracks during this introduction to the Army. While family members are free to move to the same area, they will not be allowed to see the soldier any more often than if they lived far away.
Marine Corps Recruit Training is the longest, most demanding military basic training, consisting of more than 70 “training days” in a period of 13 weeks. Unlike other boot camps, there are no weekends off and you cannot leave the base.
Are cell phones allowed in Basic Training? There are no cell phones allowed in Basic Training. This is a consistent rule for all of the military branches: Do not expect your service member to be able to call you, text you, or receive your messages when they are in Basic Training.
There is no military spouse pay or stipend, but the military offers a number of benefits to help service members and their families. Your first stop after the wedding should be the nearest military ID card issuing facility to enroll in DEERS, the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
The role of being a military wife doesn't come lightly. It means being supportive, loving, loyal, fierce, and reliable. While you know separation happens, no one can ever prepare you for the hole your spouse leaves in your heart when they're on a mission.
The life of a military spouse is undeniably challenging. Being away from your partner for months or years at a time, assuming the role of a single parent, trying to balance a career while moving so often – all of these realities of military life can take its toll.
Keep in mind that many service members have spouses and children before they join, so getting married will not be an obstacle to joining. Most new spouses say it was less stressful to get married after the service member completed basic and other initial schools.
Home Life. Unfortunately, being stationed together is not guaranteed, but all branches have a form of a Join Spouse program that tries to keep spouses together or within 100 miles of each other. That way you'll actually have the potential to see one another on off-duty days.
However, you are entitled to one day of travel and 10 days of leave after completing basic training.
Do military relationships move fast? They can at times, but they don't have to. Sometimes couples get engaged and then married quickly because of an upcoming deployment or duty station move.
During the 7.5 weeks while your loved one is at BMT, he/she will be authorized to use his/her cell phone or pay phones to make outgoing calls to family members. Trainees are encouraged to maintain their cell phone service while at BMT and to bring a calling card.
Military life brings additional challenges to couples, including: Frequent separations. Deployments and temporary duty assignments mean that military members spend more time away from home than the average civilian. Missing important events like anniversaries and birthdays can be hard for both members of the couple.
Spouses and children of service members are traditionally called dependents. Being called a “Dependa” implies the military spouse sits at home all day doing nothing while their service member sacrifices everything to keep them comfortable.
The divorce rate for all military personnel is about 3%.
One of the biggest stressors for 44% of military spouses are the challenges that come with employment, in addition to time away from family and providing their children with a quality education. Other stressors include quality of life, military pay and family stability.
One of the perks of being in the military is that you can typically tie the knot at the base chapel for free. This includes a chaplain to perform the wedding ceremony and a variety of choices, including almost any religious denomination, non-religious, military, civilian and casual.
The military will pay them to relocate their family and their belongings to the new station. A PCS move can be stressful and exhausting, but it is a regular occurrence for most military families.
Sleeping arrangements during Basic Training may differ depending on where you're at. Generally, you'll either bunk in a bay containing about 40 people or in a small room with three to six others. You can expect to get between seven and eight hours of sleep.
Pocketknives, firearms, ammunition, fireworks, clubs, batons, brass knuckles, straight razors, ice picks and so on are not allowed. Tobacco products and lighters. Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, tobacco, chewing tobacco, disposable lighters and lighter fluid will be confiscated when you arrive at basic training.
Mail call is usually every evening, Monday through Saturday. At the end of the duty day, the drill instructor will enter the barracks, call out names and pass out mail. You're then usually granted about one hour of free time to read your mail.