In this October 2013 interview, Mrs. Elizabeth Miller, spouse, US Navy, discusses some of the ups and downs of being a Navy spouse when her husband was deployed. Mrs. Miller talks about the benefits of a functioning Family Readiness Group and the support and ombudsman can offer. She describes some of the challenges she faced being a new spouse in a new town with a deployed husband. She discusses challenges the family faced and shares how she was able to prepare for future deployments. She talks about her husband's time at sea even when he is not deployed and the challenges that creates. Mrs. Miller closes her interview by stating, "I just wish that either the schedule was a little more accommodating, especially when it comes to being able to take leave, so that it was easier to take leave and spend the time as a family so we could build the skills as a family. Or, that there were fewer mini underways or that there was a functioning family support group, so that the stress on the family from all of the time, all of the time apart and all of the constant changes to the schedule, wasn't so great. I have seen firsthand that if you don’t have the emotional support, you don’t have the physical support, you don’t have the mental support, how difficult this life is to lead. I have seen many people leave the military because their families -- they ran the pro and cons and it wasn't worth it to continue putting their family through the stress. It wasn’t worth it to them to continue putting their family through the constant strain of them being gone and then home and then gone and then home and then gone and then home and then having to permanently change station (PCS) in between."

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited