Military spouses share challenges of deployments

As more San Diego based service members get deployed, many military families are on edge wondering how long the conflict will last.

One military spouse spoke with NBC 7. Due to the sensitive nature of military deployments, we are not identifying her by name.

The woman we’ll call Claire shared some of the challenges military families go through during deployments.

Claire is no stranger to military deployments.

Her husband is in the Navy and has served in multiple military operations.  

“They get extended quite often. So, you might think, oh you’re going to go out for six months, and then it turns into eight months, and then it turns into you know, who knows what… that’s hard. It’s so that’s hard,” Claire said.

He was on one of the ships that were recently deployed.

“I was nervous to say the least,” she said.

But he transferred to transition out right before it deployed.

“You’re glad daddy is here?” Claire asked her son. “Yeah” he replied. “Good,” she said.

As a mother of two, Claire empathizes with what many spouses are going through.

“I know a lot of military families right now are really struggling,” Claire said. “We’re in this together, and we are as a community, military spouses and family. If we didn’t have that community, it’d be a lot more difficult to withstand.”

Part of that community includes the Blue Star Families. It’s a non-profit that connects military families to support services. Executive Director Maggie Meza understands the challenges, being a military mom.

“I remember distinctly being overwhelmed with three small children and needing to take care of them and the home and I woke up one morning and heard a lawn mower and it makes me emotional just to think about it. And the neighbor next door started mowing my lawn and recognized that I’d been alone for a while,” Meza said.

Though Blue Star Families helps military members with financial, childcare, and mental health resources, they encourage them to continue seeking support because the San Diego community has their back.

It’s something Claire said has helped her navigate uncertainty.

“Having that open dialogue is going to help you feel heard, help you feel seen, and maybe lighten the load a little bit of carrying all of that anxiety of not knowing potentially what’s going to happen in your home and your family,” she said.

Blue Star Families Southern California Chapter serves over 19,000 members.