Military Family Studies by RAND Corporation

If you are looking for studies of mlitary families to guide your advocacy and lend a little heft to your arguments,  check out the RAND Corporation's "Military Families" page. Some of their studies (funded, ultimately, by YOUR taxpayer dollars and made available to you for free):

"Extended and repeated deployments can cause significant stress to military families and may result in lower levels of reenlistment. RAND research has explored the need for military-sponsored child care and the role of military spouses, and continues to provide guidance to policymakers on how to attract and retain personnel with essential skills while also supporting military families.

Army Children with a Parent Deployed Nineteen Months or Longer Experien ce More Academic Difficulties — Apr 4, 2011
Army children whose parents have deployed 19 months or more since 2001 score lower on standardized tests than other Army children whose parents have deployed for shorter periods of time.

The War Within: Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military — Feb 17, 2011
The increasing number of suicides is causing concern in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Suicide-prevention programs in DoD and across the services have some (but not all) of the characteristics of comprehensive programs.

Views from the Homefront: How Military Youth and Spouses Are Coping with Deployment — Jan 19, 2011
Reports the results of a longitudinal study of youth from military families and their caregivers concerning their emotional well-being and how well they are coping with servicemembers' extended deployments.

Children and Spouses of Deployed Military Members Report Challenges as Responsibilities Increase — Jan 19, 2011
Children and spouses of military members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan report facing challenges as family relationships change and they assume more responsibility for household duties during deployment.

Measuring Underemployment Among Military Spouses — Feb 26, 2010
Comparisons of military wives with a group of similar civilian wives show that the former have a much greater tendency to be underemployed. However, there does not seem to be a strong link between military wives' labor force position and satisfaction with their life situation.

The Impact of Parental Deployment on Child Social and Emotional Functioning: Perspectives of School Staff — Jan 1, 2010
Studies the effect of parental deployment on the well-being of children, and whether and how parental deployments affect the behavioral, social, and emotional outcomes of youth in the school setting.

Longer Parental Deployment Linked to More Emotional Challenges for Military Children — Dec 8, 2009
Children in military families may suffer from more emotional and behavioral difficulties when compared to other American youths, with older children and girls struggling the most when a parent is deployed overseas.

RAND adds studies to this topic frequently, so if serving military families is in your interest area, you may wish to check back monthly or sign up for their email updates.