Does the navy deploy or leave for long periods of time?
I have dated/known guys + gals in both services. I know that army guys are more likely to be called to war or other parts of the world more often than sailors do. So, I suggest that you encourage him to be in the navy. You’ll be able to have daily emails from him and occasion phone calls, where with the army there’s a possibility that there won’t be either of that. Good luck. My army friend has been to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afganastan for the past 3-5 years. He comes home for a few months then deploys again. The navy men that I know would be go out on week trips for more often but don’t stay for years at a time. I think they are on a 9-month stay in the US then 9-month sea deployment.
With the Navy on a ship they can be gone 85% of the year more or less depending on what they are doing. They can be gone during the week & home on weekends; gone for a few weeks; gone for a month; gone for a few months; or gone longer than 6 months at a time. They have exercises, workups, trials as well as deployments. You can have some communications during this time but it can be limited to emails which at anytime can be stopped. When they are home they are still on the ship that they must go to every day with every few days being there over 24 hours on duty including weekends. he can also go IA – Individual Augmentee in which he goes to a place like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Djibouti for up to 12 months to work with a combined command. He can also get orders to a base that doesn’t allow dependents like Diego Garcia. Or Japan, Italy, Spain… during his first enlistment if he is E3 and below. For the Navy it doesn’t matter what is going on in the world they are gone a lot and
Any branch of the military will take you away from your family life at times. It’s just kind of the nature of military work. In the Navy if is assigned to a ship they will go out for periods of three to six months sometimes. Army and Marines can easily be gone that long or longer as well. Any branch if they get deployed to a war zone will probably be gone for at least a year total. From what I hear the air force is the most family friendly branch but that isn’t saying much. I’m not saying joining is a bad Idea. I’ve been in the Marine Corps for 6 years and I wouldn’t trade the experience it’s given me for anything, but it is a big decision. You don’t know what you’re getting into until you’re already in it. Do your best before hand to look at all your options though. Some are better than others. Look at things like active duty verse reserve/guard, officer vs enlisted… Find what’s going to work best for you, and make sure you get the kind of job you’re looking for in the military as w
