Since the early 1950s, the percentage of enlisted personnel who were married at any one time has climbed from approximately 30% of the force to nearly 60% today, while the percentage of married officers has fluctuated between 70 and 90%. Retaining a higher percentage of married enlisted personnel has helped the all volunteer Army reach its strength objectives and has led to the force being older and more experienced than it might otherwise have been. Although evidence is confounded by the correlation of marital status with age, rank, years of service, having children, and gender, it appears that marriage after entering the service is associated with increased retention at least for male soldiers. Marital status has a complex association with combat readiness as both advantages and disadvantages are observed when comparing readiness factors for unmarried and married soldiers.
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