A young noncommissioned officer has a promising career in the Army. He's a combat arms soldier who loves to run around in the woods with machine guns. He earned his Ranger tab and an Expert Infantryman Badge, has one of the highest fitness scores in his unit, and sports several achievement medals on his ribbon rack.
He is about as decorated and ready for war as a soldier can be at his rank without any combat experience.
But a near constant string of rotations and trainings, and now a year-long mission in Europe, mean he has been home for only a few months cumulatively in his short four-year career and is in the middle of marriage counseling.
Read Next: In Wake of Fatal Black Hawk Crash, Renewed Scrutiny of the Helicopter's Safety Record
“It has been a huge struggle, especially as [we're] trying to start a family,” said the NCO who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. “I'm not sure what's going to happen with my marriage, but there is a huge chance I'm leaving the Army.”
Military.com spoke to more than a dozen soldiers about a rapid cadence of missions and training schedules packed to the point of bursting. They described how the service's frantic pace to gear up for war is stretching units and pushing families to the breaking point.
“We're as high or higher with the [operations tempo],” Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston told Military.com,…
