Military Families

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Supporting America's Veterans: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on helping veterans succeed in civilian jobs, a bakery that doubles as a business school, Black Americans’ military service, and more.

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Dog Tag Bakery: A Fresh Start for Veterans

A bakery in Washington, D.C., brings together service-disabled post–9/11 veterans, military spouses, and caregivers. For five months, they are immersed in an intensive entrepreneurial-focused business program. It's become a model for helping veterans and others in the military community reestablish their lives.

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The Russian Military Has Failed Its Sons

The Russian military has a long history of mistreating its personnel and their frightened families. The military's culture of disregard for the lives and well-being of its personnel has done more than undermine their combat performance; it has also tanked their morale and will to fight.

Dara Massicot @MassDara

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Help, Not Just Hunt, Violent Extremists in the Military

The Pentagon is working to rid itself of violent extremist members. In addition to strengthening the chain of command to detect and remove extremist members from its ranks, the military could also empower military family members to intervene.

Todd C. Helmus @Helmus, Ryan Andrew Brown, et al.

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State of the Union 2020: Insights from RAND

The final State of the Union address of President Trump's four-year term may be viewed through the lens of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the evening. But the speech touched on a range of policy challenges that will remain, regardless of how politics play out in 2020.

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China's 70th Anniversary, Wargaming, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on what the future holds for China, the importance of gender diversity in wargaming, how Army families address life's challenges, and more.

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Military Spouses, Exercise Incentives, Libraries: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on a scholarship program for military spouses, a wellness program that uses the Apple Watch, how libraries can improve public health, and more.

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An Inside Look at Life in the Army's Junior Ranks

History records the names of generals, not of the privates filling out supply forms, cleaning out trucks, or huffing through another training exercise. But those privates keep the U.S. Army running. RAND research provides their unfiltered take on life in the ranks.

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Military Caregivers Share the Costs of War

Millions of veterans and service members receive care from family and friends who need support as well. Military caregivers sacrifice their time, their jobs, and even their health to provide a service worth billions of dollars to the United States.

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Military Power Is All About People: A Return to Personnel Policy

Ensuring the strength of U.S. armed forces is critical to U.S. national security and the key source of strength is its people. True investment in personnel is a long-term legacy and an investment worthy of attention and policy debate to ensure the United States continues to recruit and retain the most effective fighting force in the world.

Radha Iyengar Plumb, Brad R. Carson, et al.

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The Impact of Deployments on Military Marriages

The evidence linking combat deployments directly to poorer marital functioning has been sparse and contradictory. Although marital satisfaction among military couples declined from 2003 to 2009, the divorce rate among them remained steady.

Thomas E. Trail @TomETrail

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'In the Deployment Life Study, I Saw My Own Family'

RAND's Deployment Life Study was designed to examine how deployment affects the health and well-being of military families. M.M. Smith, an active-duty military spouse, offers her response to the study.

M. M. Smith

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The Resilience of Military Families

Deployment of a spouse and parent can shake a military family to its core. But according to RAND research, these families display remarkable resilience.

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Study Finds Most Military Families Are Resilient in Face of Deployment

Despite the fact that service members, spouses, and their children experience frequent deployments to combat zones throughout the world, a recent study of more than 2,700 military families found that they generally fare well and adapt effectively to the stresses of deployment.

Sarah O. Meadows @SarahOMeadows, Benjamin Karney

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As Congress Drafts the NDAA, What Are Options for TRICARE Reform?

A stronger TRICARE program that provides greater value-based care in a more efficient manner could result from adopting innovations made in the private sector, while also recognizing the unique role of military treatment facilities.

Susan D. Hosek, Nathaniel Lutovsky