The military is an organization that requires its members to serve their country while also balancing family life. This can be challenging because being away from loved ones for extended periods of time takes a toll on relationships, which in turn affects morale, performance, and overall wellbeing. In addition, the physical demands of combat are intense, leading to fatigue and stress that further complicate matters. To deal with this, soldiers must find ways to maintain emotional connections even when they cannot physically be present in person. The following explores how soldiers navigate this tension between operational efficiency and the emotional labor required to maintain healthy intimate relationships during deployment.
How do soldiers cope?
Soldiers have developed various strategies to manage these competing priorities. Some couples choose to communicate through phone calls, text messages, emails, video chats, or letters. These methods allow them to share daily activities, feelings, hopes, dreams, and fears without sacrificing mission focus. Others rely on long-distance exercises like writing love letters or creating rituals such as reading bedtime stories together remotely.
Many soldiers stay connected by engaging in shared hobbies or projects outside of work hours.
One pair recreated their favorite restaurant meal via FaceTime while another spent quality time painting each other's nails virtually.
Balancing Emotions
While communication is important, it can only go so far without face-to-face contact. To fill the void created by distance, some troops turn to technology like virtual reality simulators to replicate intimacy through tactile interactions such as holding hands or kissing onscreen. Others use apps that help track mood swings or monitor physical activity for insights into their partner's mental state. Many also employ creative solutions, like making a "couple's quilt" with fabric pieces collected from across different countries they visited together over time.
Maintaining Morale
The military recognizes that personal connections are essential for soldier wellness. They provide programs for couples counseling before deployment and support groups during it, emphasizing trust, honesty, open dialogue, and compromise. While not everyone participates in these services due to stigma or privacy concerns, those who do find them helpful. This leads to greater resilience among troops, better performance under pressure, increased loyalty towards superiors, and enhanced morale overall.
Navigating operational efficiency and emotional labor requires effort and sacrifice but offers benefits too numerous to ignore. By prioritizing communication and using innovative strategies, soldiers can maintain healthy relationships despite challenges posed by deployment.
How do soldiers navigate the tension between operational efficiency and the emotional labor required to maintain healthy intimate relationships during deployment?
Soldiers often experience a range of challenges when it comes to navigating the tension between operational efficiency and the emotional labor required to maintain healthy intimate relationships during deployment. This is due to a number of factors, including the unique stresses associated with combat operations and the need to balance the demands of their job with the expectations and needs of their loved ones back home.