How Long Do You Have To Serve In The Military

Past Sydney Johnson

When a service member gets the call about a new deployment, an array of emotions tin can launder over them. They may experience excited about embarking on a new experience and traveling to a place they may have never been before. They may exist nervous about performing new skills they haven't utilized quite yet. They may also feel sad knowing they'll have to leave their families and spend a lot of fourth dimension away from their homes, with minimal communication.

According to the Department of Veteran'southward Affairs (VA), a deployment is when a service member is required to motion from a dwelling house station to another location outside of the Usa. A "deployment bike," the phrase used to describe the entire deployment process, includes everything from the initial deployment notification through the period when a service member returns home.

Deployment cycles tin can often look very unlike across - and even inside – different military branches.

For instance, a deployment for a Navy sailor could mean six months at bounding main on a ship; for a Marine it could mean flying to the other side of the world to work for a few short months; and for an Army soldier it could mean living and working in undisclosed location for up to 15 months.

Although each and every deployment is truly unique, there are a few basic facts to know nigh military deployments in general:

Deployments Range in Length

Navy pilots make their manner to a simulated casualty during a flying deck drill on the Navy'southward only forrad-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. | Photo credit DVIDS/Footling Officeholder third Class Gabriel Martinez

The boilerplate military deployment is typically between half-dozen and twelve months long. However, deployment lengths vary greatly from branch to branch, are situational and depend on several factors specific to each individual service member.

For example, some Navy submarine deployments are less than a month long, while some ship deployments can be more a twelvemonth. On the other manus, some members of the Air Strength can undergo several shorter deployments with very short breaks in between each.

Service Members Must Complete Pre-Deployment Training

Each deployment is a new assignment, so service members undergo specific training before leaving for their destination, so they are prepared for the work alee. Sometimes, soldiers need to learn make new skills to be successful overseas, as deployments include many different jobs.

Photo credit DVIDS/Lance Cpl. Ujian Gosun

A mortarman establishes a defensive position in a patrol base operations upshot during exercise Fuji Viper 21.one at Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan.

Pre-deployment training is required before every deployment assignment, no matter how many deployments a service member has completed, because each deployment is unique. Some service members are deployed over 5 times throughout their military careers, which means they've undergone only as much pre-deployment training too.

Groups of Service Members or Simply Individuals Tin can exist Deployed

The number of service members that are selected to deploy depends on what kind of support is needed and how specialized the work is. For more specialized missions, a smaller unit of measurement is usually deployed, while larger teams may be sent overseas for other operations.

Typically, unabridged units are deployed together, but sometimes the U.S. Ground forces deploys individuals.

Deployments Don't Always Involve Gainsay

In popular movies, books or other media, military deployments are usually characterized as being very unsafe, with troops heading off to state of war in a remote location. While this is a possible reality for some service members, but not all deployments involve combat situations.

Photo credit DVIDS/Seaman Santiago Navarro

Navy seamen training on lee helm and helm operation on the ship's control console in the bridge of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh.

Ane example of a non-gainsay deployment is when a Navy submarine needs supplies while it is underway (at sea) for a long period of time, a Navy submarine tender – which is a type of ship designated to tending submarines when necessary – will deploy from its station with its entire crew aboard and prepare canvass for the submarine's location. The tender may be stationed at a port in Guam, and once a submarine'southward crew requests assistance, the tender will deploy for all the same long it takes to supply the submarine with fuel, food, etc.

(Fun fact: Did yous know that troops deployed into combat zones receive "imminent danger pay," which is tax-exempt bonus compensation?)

Staying in Touch During a Deployment Tin exist a Challenge

For many service members, staying in touch with loved ones while deployed can be quite the challenge. In some cases, it can be nigh incommunicable.

While some deployment locations offering Wi-Fi or phones to connect dorsum home, many others are too remote for service members to accept admission to any reliable communication.

Photograph credit DVIDS/Staff Sgt. Timothy Sencindiver

More than 160 members return from a nine-calendar month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

For case, submariners serve in a part of the Navy nicknamed the "Silent Service," and there's a reason for that. Submarines stay hundreds of feet underwater for months at a time. Though there are ways to email and deliver messages to these service members while they are underway, it is very difficult for them to maintain consequent communication with their loved ones while they are deployed.

Additionally, since deployments across all military branches can have service members all over the earth, time zones can get in difficult to coordinate with their loved ones back home.

An airman hugs her loved 1 upon return. | Photo credit DVIDS/Staff Sgt. Tony Harp

If a family is in California, and their service member is in Afghanistan, there would exist an xi.5-hour fourth dimension difference. Timing and lack of access to means of communications tin strength many families to go weeks, sometimes months, with niggling to no connection.

Many Deployed Service Members Tin Visit a USO Center to Stay In Touch with Loved Ones

Considering staying in touch with loved ones during a deployment can be particularly challenging for some service members, the USO offers several programs, like Operation Phone Home and the Bob Promise Legacy Reading Program, designed to aid them connect back abode.

Service members tin can be away from their homes for months at a time, but while they are in a distant location, they can stay continued to their families by taking reward of the USO's free services, then they can stay stiff while completing their missions.

Deployment can be a very exciting and tough feel, both physically and emotionally, which is why staying connected to their loved ones is particularly important.

- This story originally appeared on USO.org in 2020. It has been updated in 2021.