ABSTRACT

As evidence presented in every chapter of this volume attests, participation in the military can exert influence throughout the life course, altering individuals’ life chances and choices in myriad ways (see Wilmoth and London, Chapter 1 of this volume). Military service influences educational attainment, family formation, employment experiences, migration, and health for those who served and their families/dependents, although the strength and direction of the influence is shaped by unique circumstances associated with particular eras of service during young and middle adulthood 1 . Active-duty service members, veterans, and their families have access to a host of educational, financial, housing, medical, and other supportive benefits offered by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Such benefits are available exclusively to individuals whose records of military service qualify them, or their dependents and survivors, for the array of benefits designed to honor and compensate them for the risks associated with military service. Given this, these benefits have immediate, middle-range, and long-term impacts on various life-course trajectories that unfold as people age.