
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

PENTAGON: MARRIAGE NOT RISK TO U.S. DEFENSE

Military marriages may be risky for the couples but pose no major risks to national readiness, the Pentagon says.

The study released Monday pointed to a "fundamental paradox" - that while strong marriages contribute to successful long-term careers, marriages "may impose particularly heavy burdens" for new service members.

The study was commissioned by Defense Secretary Les Aspin in August after the Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Carl Mundy Jr., approved a plan to end the enlisting of married men and women in 1995.

Mundy, later ordered by Aspin to withdraw the plan, expressed concern about the problems young married Marines face because they spend more than half their time on duty away from their home bases.

The report concluded that marriage can influence readiness, "although the effects are mixed and small and tend to be swamped by factors other than family status."

But it also concluded that "there are thousands of young first-term married service members and their families who serve their country in an exemplary fashion, bravely and without complaint."

- Associated Press

by CNB