With over a decade at war, the longest in United States history, the implications of wartime service for military connected children and families have emerged as a priority not only for the military community, but also for our national community.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have ushered in a new era of challenges for service members and their families. For an all-volunteer force engaged in prolonged wartime operations, multiple deployments may cumulatively span years across a child and family’s development (Maholmes, 2012).
Over the last several years, the field of research on military connected children and families has benefitted benefited tremendously from targeted research support undertaken by military commands and governmental agencies within the Department of Defense, and by national agencies and private organizations outside of it, often representing collaborative, interagency initiatives reflecting the broad reach and impact of these issues.