Divorce in the Desert:
Desert Vets going through a Divorce while deployed

It has been said that war is always a reflection of the times and the times are changing in America. Divorce is at an all-time high. American women (and men) do not have the 'waiting on the home front' mentality they had in previous generations. Divorce amongst soldiers serving in the Desert Wars is staggering, one Reserve Unit in Iraq suffering over 80%.

While serving in the Desert Wars a service member must be completely focused on the task at hand as the Combat Zone is deadly. Scanning for IEDs, flying through hostile air, kicking in doors, watching for snipers, ect. His or her mind must be entirely directed to the mission at hand, one drift of thought may result in injury or death to the service member and others.

We are seeing a big problem over here due to divorce. With a divorce imminent, the mind wanders into all the problems back home. How the kids will react, creating a separate checking account, finding a lawyer, child support, custody, the house, the vehicles, the bills. Unfortunately, there is nothing set in place over here to assist the service member during this time of crisis.

We find this unacceptable, particularly with the huge entity of JAG already in place who could very easily help these service members in their time of need. JAG is a group of military lawyers; many are Reserve and Guard from all 50 States.

The first reaction of most service members upon learning of a divorce or needing to begin a divorce is to go to JAG. However, upon completion of a quick meeting, they learn JAG can not help them at all and their excuse is that they are not licensed in the service member's home state.

Desert Vets feels this could be easily resolved. The first step is to create a system for the Military to pay for the legal expenses of the divorce. The military has the system in place in the form of JAG, so that will be easy. If the service member loses his or her marriage due to service in the Desert Wars, the military owes him or her that small debt.

Next, a database would need to be created of all the JAG lawyers in all 50 states. A service member coming to JAG here in theater would be assigned two JAG lawyers, one at the duty station and the other in his or her home state. The JAG Officer back home would handle the divorce, sending all paperwork through the JAG office at the service member's base. The JAG Officer here could explain and council the service member regarding the legal matters and answer any questions. Any required signatures could be done in front of the JAG Notary Public and sent electronically back to the home state JAG lawyer.

Many states require counseling before a divorce can be granted. This could be easily handled by yet another large entity the Military already has in place…the Chaplin Services. Another database could be created of the Chaplains in theater and stateside. They could coordinate their efforts through the network; council both parties separately and together via phone or online…and satisfy the home state's requirements.

This simple solution would save service member going through a divorce money, time, phone calls, and most importantly…stress.

See also: Military Divorce Rates Studied