Photo by Jenn Shimandle
Every couple has their ups and downs in a relationship, but as I have been an Army girlfriend and now Army fiancé for four years I think I can honestly say this is different than any other relationship that I have had.
I am in a different situation than some Army girlfriends in that my fiancé, Anthony is in the Army Reserves. This means that he goes to his assigned unit only one weekend a month and is basically free to do as he wishes for the remainder of the time until his next drill weekend.
The other alternative and in my opinion the much harder lifestyle would be dating an active-duty soldier. Although I cannot speak from experience, I do know how hard it is for me to be away from Anthony just for relatively short amounts of time; especially compared to the months spanning one to two years that an active-duty and reservist soldier can be deployed.
For example, Anthony is currently at Fort Huachuca, Arizona until May of this year. That means four months without my love. I joke that it feels like a mini deployment when in reality he is there to complete an Officers training course so that he will be qualified to work in the Military Intelligence field (yes I know, it’s an oxymoron).
As hard as these months apart always are I know that this course and the others to come are all going to help Anthony get promoted and succeed in the Army. And that it will in the long run help the both of us, because of the benefits the Army provides we will have a strong foundation to build our lives.
I am excited to marry Anthony; however I am not just marrying him… I am marrying into the entire U.S. Army family. And with any future in-laws you can expect there to be rough patches, but in the end (for the most part) you love them anyway.
Leslie Arakelian 