Divorce Rate Increases in Marine Corps, Army

Chart compares the percentage of military service members getting divorced this year and last; 1 c x 2 7/8 in; 46.5 mm x 73.025 mm

(AP)

The divorce rate among soldiers and Marines increased last year as military marriages suffered continuing stress from America's two ongoing wars. There were an estimated 10,200 failed marriages in the active duty Army and 3,077 among Marines, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press for the budget year ended Sept. 30.

That's a divorce rate of 3.5 percent among more than 287,000 married troops in the Army, up from 3.3 percent in the previous fiscal year, according to Defense Department figures.

"With increasing demands placed on Army families and soldiers — including frequent deployments and relocations — intimate relationships are tested," said Army spokesman Paul Boyce.

The new data shows 3.7 percent of more than 84,000 married Marines divorced in fiscal year 2008, up from 3.3 percent in 2007. The Marine Corps called the increase statistically small and said officials would need to examine them farther.

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"That said, Marine Corps leadership is keenly aware of the burden military families carry in a time of war," said Col. Dave Lapan, a spokesman. "Our leaders, from the commandant on down, are paying serious attention to the strain."

Some veteran and family groups question whether Pentagon figures are too low, saying they do not take into account many who divorce after leaving the service. The groups are unable to offer other estimates.

"Divorce rates are up — no doubt about it — a kind of predictable ripple effect of this pace of operations," Paul Rieckhoff of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said in a recent interview. "And that's not even taking into account the number of marriages that are strained" but still holding together.

But defense officials say they are holding divorces down below what they might otherwise be with a myriad of efforts in recent years to support couples enduring unprecedented separations and other hardships because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.