As an audience of military spouses I think we can all agree that marrying into the military is no cakewalk and that we’ve all asked ourselves at one point “What did I get into.” You can have all the love in the world but nothing really can adequately prepare you for the countless hours you’ll spend away from the man/woman you love, stresses of PCSing, deployments, missions, trainings, having children (if that is your plan), all while balancing bills, new roles, and daily life. Once the honeymoon is over life becomes increasingly complicated, and intensely uneasy. Marrying young adds a whole new challenge to the above-mentioned aspects of being a military spouse BUT this doesn’t mean your marriage will not work!
I can only speculate and add personal experiences to the question: why do military marriages occur at a younger age? This is the best explanation I can come up with: TIME. Time is something that is treasure far beyond worldly possessions in our community. We realize that time is short, time with our loved one is scarce, and in all reality time with the person we choose to love could be cut short. When time is always a factor it’s hard to waste it or dispose of it with unnecessary waiting. Upon this realization many choose to forgo outward opinions on their union and make use of the time they have. Many of my friends married their spouses before they left for basic training and some even married while on leave from a deployment. The issue of time was also a factor in my marriage as we married before my husband left for a training mission in Bulgaria. Time is a key player in our everyday lives; consequently, it influences many of our most important choices.
Three weeks after being married I started my first semester of college. I was surrounded by thousands of single men and women with raging hormones who were all busy getting wasted on the weekends (and during the week). I opted out of campus parties, and chose to stay home with my husband and watch all the available seasons of “24.” I focused on my classes, I studied hard, I made memories with the person I care most about in this world and spent countless meals eating scrambled eggs and cheap noodles. I wouldn’t trade any of it for awkward and wasteful dates, kissing strangers, and attending rave parties. I felt like being married and attending college enabled me to focus more intensely on my studies and gave me the supportive safety net that allowed me to excel to my upmost potential. Does this type of arrangement work for everyone? Absolutely not, but it worked for me.
