ABSTRACT
Any prolonged separation from partners (spouses) and families places mental stress on those involved. This is also true for military families who, owing to peacekeeping and peacemaking missions abroad such as those in the Balkans and in Afghanistan, face separations to an increased extent. The absence of partners and husbands, of friends and fathers, puts the families 2 left at home to a test that is as tough as that which the soldiers who are separated from their loved ones and their familiar environment at home have to pass. During a separation, knowing that the family at home and/or the soldier 3 in the theater of deployment are well is of great importance for all persons involved. If problems occur or if communication between the two sides is impaired (perhaps because of technical problems), the stress on those involved – which, owing to the separation, is very high anyway – will even increase. Military sociology studies (Biehl et al., 2004; Pittman, Kerpelman, and McFayden, 2004; Rosen et al., 1995) have already shown that the motivation of soldiers during a mission abroad is highly correlated with the well-being of their partners and families at home. No soldier who has problems with his or her family at home or who is permanently worried about their well-being can fully concentrate on the tasks that he or she has to perform during deployment. The family also must know for sure that the soldier is well. In a survey conducted by the former Bundeswehr Institute of Social Sciences (SOWI), 4 German soldiers stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina often said: “It is my wife back home who runs the real mission.” This is an opinion that is also shared by the families, as an open remark by one of the wives shows:
There is no need for the politicians to fly to the countries of deployment for the umpteenth time in order to thank the soldiers and feel sorry for them. The soldiers do their job after all. Rather, the politicians should go to the family service centers and thank the families who have to cope with twice the workload at home, and feel sorry for the children who cry for their daddies for months!
