When the warrior returns : making the transition at home

The American military is currently experiencing its largest demobilisation in history. Nearly two million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen have been deployed in the recent conflict and most will be coming home. Every family will be concerned about their warrior, why his behaviour may have changed so dramatically, and what they can do to help her make the transition to the next phase or her life. Unlike service members who live with their colleagues in arms and remain connected to them after their time in service, many family members do not have these kinds of connections nor do they have access or knowledge of the resources that can help them understand and cope with all the changes. The bureaucratic hurdles and paperwork may feel overwhelming for family members and they may not be aware of all of the benefits they have earned. The deployment can also have an enormous psychological impact on the service member and on the family members in ways that they may not even be aware. And when service members are wounded or disabled during the conflict it will frequently fall to the family members to bear the additional responsibilities of caring for the service member and providing rehabilitation. The book begins with a series of chapters that describes the current situation for the family of service members. These chapters answer questions about how deployment impacts the family of the warrior and what happens (and what emotions occur) during and immediately after the warrior returns home and how families can best cope, survive, and thrive. With multiple deployments becoming more common another early chapter addresses the impact of multiple deployments on the family. Since resilient family members are better able to cope with the reintegration another chapter describes how families can build their resiliency. Suicide has become a big problem in the military (more service members dying by suicide than dying on the battle field) so another chapter describes why they commit suicide and provides guidance on how family members can prevent it from happening. Drug and alcohol abuse are also rampant among service members so the book provides guidance on warning signs and ways to help the family member. Other chapters provide parenting tips. The needs of blended families, engaged couples, single warriors and other non-traditional families are also addressed. Other chapters offer advice on how to help the service member look for a job, go back to school or start college, and how to rekindle a couple's intimacy and sex after deployment. The special needs of female warriors and their spouses and family members of Reservists and Guard members are also addressed. The needs of disabled and injured service members (and the impact on family members) are also addressed with guidance provided on how the family can cope and thrive with these new challenges.