A recent Armed Forces Press article notes the efforts by military leaders to stave off increases in military divorce rates.  According to the article, approximately 58% of military members are married, and there is an approximately 3.5% divorce rate.

While praising the benefits these programs offer families, officials said they recognize that strong marital and family relationships make better Soldiers.

It also has an important impact on a soldier’s decision to re-enlist…The Army recruits Soldiers, but it retains families.

There are a wide variety of programs, many of which are run by the Chaplaincy.  The article includes praise for the US Army’s “Strong Bonds.”  Strong Bonds is a Chaplain-run program that has come under fire from Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation for its religious content.  The MRFF describes the program as

an evangelistic Christian program operating under the guise of a pre-deployment and post-deployment family wellness and marriage training program. [It is] run entirely by chaplains, eliminating the important physical and mental health aspects provided by public health nurses, and turning the whole thing into a program of Christian religious retreats–paid for with tax dollars.

Notably, the voluntary offering of Strong Bonds is one of a variety of programs offered for support to Army personnel.  However, the MRFF has indicated that the program is ‘so enticing’ that it “coerces” people to go and see religious content.