You can join the military right out of high school. If you do, and you’re already dating the person you want to marry, are you going to rush it and get married as soon as you can?
It is a common tactic. Some studies have found that 50% of those in the military get married by 25. When you compare the average age of marriage for military members to the average age for other civilians — an age that keeps creeping upwards — you find that military members on average get married much younger than their civilian counterparts.
Maybe it’s a drive to get married before leaving, knowing that the military is not like another career. You realize that you will be away from your significant other for long stretches of time. You want to get married to ensure that you don’t drift apart during that time. Or, perhaps you’re worried about the risks associated with military service and that’s why you want to rush into marriage before a deployment.
No matter why it happens, a hurried marriage at a young age could be more likely to end in divorce. If drifting apart was your concern, for instance, you should know that it still happens with married couples. All of that time apart, as your spouse goes to college and has new experiences without you, could be detrimental to your quick marriage. A few years down the line, you may feel like you simply rushed into a mistake and it would be best for you both to go your own way.
If this happens, make sure you know what options you have, as military divorce can get complicated.
