Military Service in Lives: Where Do We Go From Here?

Although the military has enduring effects on the lives of service members and their families, it is often overlooked as an institutional force that shapes the life course. This chapter aims to bring military service to the attention of life-course scholars by: providing a conceptual model for understanding the impact of military service on lives that builds on the core principles of the life-course perspective; reviewing empirical evidence regarding how military service is related to childhood and adolescence, influences the transition to adulthood, and has long-term consequences for various outcomes in mid-to-late life; and identifying methodological challenges and relatively unexplored questions that should be the focus of future inquiry. In doing so, this chapter facilitates an understanding of military service in lives while also underscoring the role of social institutions in shaping the life course.