my fiance wants to join the army and we have a 1 year old daughter together

Amy - posted on 02/24/2011

IF you get married there will be benefits. if not than you get nothing! If you are married, the army will move you and your daughter, household goods to where ever you get stationed. you get medical coverage, housing, pay is what you make of it.. if you are a big spender/shopaholic than you will be broke! but is you spend wisely than you can live comfortably. i am a stay at home army wife and mama and times were tough, (my husband isn't good with money) but bills get paid we live paycheck to paycheck also, and have for the past 4 years. it's a stable career in this economy. there are ups and downs, if your husband joins, he WILL be away a lot. in my case, my husband goes away to schools every couple months, and there's always field time (they stay on post or in the area, but they are training for days, sometimes weeks on end) your husband WILL be deploying. you can't tell when, but it's a definite. it's a hard life, but there are benefits as well as opportunities that most people could never get with being civilian. it's something that you BOTH need to sit down and research and talk about.

Maleah - posted on 01/13/2011

He has to make the decision himself.. And you need to support that..
The Army has been one of the greatest things for my family.. You know for certain that there are jobs and insurance.. Yeah deployments are hard and being an Army wife is difficult..
I love being an Army wife and Mommy! There are great benefits, always a job and insurance like I said before.. The pay is decent and once he gets promotted then it is even better..
We live on post and the housing is decent it is better than off post for the money after bills and such..

Jenna - posted on 09/26/2010

I personally think you should support whatever decision he chooses to make. I really did not know much about the Army before my husband decided to go active duty, so he had his recruiter come to our house and meet with us together so I could ask all the questions I wanted to. I can say that the medical benefits are awesome! The dental insurance..not so awesome. The pay all depends on what rank your soldier is and how many years he has in, there is a public website you can go to look at the Army pay scale. Being an Army wife is not easy, at all!! You have to make many sacrifices and his job will be very unpredicatable. Sometimes it is very frustrating...sometimes it is very rewarding. It is learning that no matter what his career comes first...even before his family. And you have to be prepared to move away from your friends and family. Hopefully he is choosing this as a career field for the right reasons and not just to get a paycheck. I have been an Army wife for 3 years and still struggle with it, but it is the choice my husband made and honestly it really is the best thing for our family. We are supporting 2 adults, 3 children, 1 dog, and 2 vehicles on just his income and he is an E4, Spc. We do live paycheck to paycheck, but we make it work. If you have any other questions or just need to talk I am here :)