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.

The brief, successful Gulf War resulted in few casualties, but there were still recognizable "pockets of trauma." This study examines the Mental Health Services available in the theater of operations, the preparations made to train the soldiers for the stress of combat, and details of how they coped with the experience of combat. It assesses the Gulf War in terms of mental health. Some attention is also given to the phenomenon named "Gulf War Syndrome." The authors conclude that United States Military Forces were not prepared for the mental health requirements of combat.