Advice Military Gives to Wives of deployed....Say What?

Families Ask Why

Newsweek ( JUL. 28)



The women wives of officers with the Third Infantry Division on duty in Baghdad listened impatiently to the speeches at a "redeployment meeting" at the base. They all had the same question when is my husband coming home? But the Army had other messages. Here's some of the advice they received: Don't have too much beer in the fridge; he's in no shape to get drunk. Put away the sexy negligee; he probably won't be in the mood. Don't have a list of chores waiting; he will be physically and emotionally spent. "I found it a little galling," says Jennifer Veale, married to a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. "They micromanage our husbands' lives; why do they have to micromanage ours as well?" One more piece of advice: don't get your hopes up. A few days after the meeting in May, the homecoming was postponed, and later postponed again; the Third ID is now scheduled to return in September. And a final thing: if you're unhappy, keep it to yourself.



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