Lengthy enlistments in "the long war": What are the costs for servicemembers and their families?

Despite ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military enlistment terms remain largely unchanged from the post-Vietnam, peacetime era. The four year enlistment remains the standard, initial service commitment for active duty enlisted personnel. Given recent unit operational tempos (OPTEMPO) and individual personnel tempos (PERSTEMPO), the four year enlistment ensures multiple, overseas deployments for many Army and most Marine personnel during their initial active duty enlistments. The frequency and cumulative duration of these deployments is unprecedented in modern, U.S. military history. Over the past eight years, a sizeable body of research has emerged that suggests that repeated deployments have an adverse impact on the physical well-being and behavioral health of servicemembers and their families. The suicide rate among active duty soldiers rose in 2009 and it represents the fifth year in a row this rate has increased. The U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General reported that personnel with 3 combat deployments have over twice the risk of developing behavioral health problems than those with a single deployment. Families are not immune to these adverse trends as a Rand Corporation study revealed that the longer a military parent had deployed in the previous three years, the more likely their children were to have difficulties at home. Considering both the demonstrated and potential impacts that repeated deployments have on military personnel and their families, the peacetime, four year enlistment term may not be an appropriate policy in an era of prolonged conflicts.