As many Louisiana military families know, maintaining a marriage while one spouse is deployed overseas can be difficult. While divorces among all military members rose in 2011, members of the U.S. Air Force divorced at the highest rate.

In statistics released in December, the Department of Defense stated that 3.9 of every 100 Air Force marriages ended in a divorce in 2011. In total, there were 30,000 divorces in all branches, but 7,534 of those came from Air Force personnel.

The Air Force's divorce rate has risen dramatically in the past 10 years, when the rate was 2.5 divorces for every 100 marriages in 2001. But in the aftermath of lengthy wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rate has risen by 64 percent since that time.

Two wars and multiple overseas deployments have required extended time apart for couples and helped lead to the surging divorce rate, military leaders said. They also acknowledged that failing marriages can harm on-the-job performance and morale among a military unit, and ultimately the military mission.

Recognizing that, the Air Force is taking steps to combat divorce. It has 500 chaplains across the branch to serve as marriage counselors, and the Air Force also is continuing its Marriage Care retreats, which started three years ago. The retreats put couples together for a one-on-one weekend where they can dedicate time to being together and working on marital issues. Projections show that in 2013, the Air Force will spend about $740,000 on the Marriage Care retreats.

And while the Air Force devoting more time to helping stressed military couples work on their marriages is admirable, for some divorce is the best option. No couple should have to stay together just to stay together and help the military's divorce statistics.

Source: "Air Force divorce rate highest in military," Military Times, David Larter and Michelle Tan, Dec. 31, 2011