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My daughter's husband of four months is being deployed next month to Afghanistan for a year, he actually left out this morning for military duty for the next month. She has great family support, has moved back home with us until he returns next year but I think that I am looking for any advice on how to possibly help her get through this from others that have been through it, actually not just her but for him as well. I have never been through anything like this and again, just looking for any advice.
Thanks so very much!
;Having gone through a deployment and having moved back in with my parents while my husband was gone, the best advice I can give is for her to keep busy.
She should try and set things up where she can have a phone with her 24/7 as depending on where they are at there is no set time he will be able to call her. If he has internet access she might want to have her computer set up by her bed and on so if they can chat online she could hear the messenger when he signs in.
Attending the family support stuff is also a BIG help. Depending on your area the FSG can be good or bad, but a majority of the time, even if the women running it are morons, there is a lot of good information and other things available there to help your daughter. There are a lot of resources available to the FSG office that your daughter can have/get.
I also suggest (for both you and your daughter) getting all the information on OPSEC ( http://www.heartsofourtroops.com/opsec_rules2.htm ) and taking it to heart.
Also, I would give her space and time. I wouldn't try to force her to do anything.
Another thought, I don't know if they have kids or if she is pregnant, but if they do or are, I would have her write a will up. Not a fun thing to think about, but it needs to be done. The military should have made him do his will and living will. If she is going to have his power of attorney she needs to make sure all those documents are up to date too. A lot of this information is also avialable through FSG as well.
If you want, you can sure send me an email through here and I would be more then happy to give you any more information that I can.