Family

Conventional wisdom and some research suggests that deployments affect military moms more than other female troops— that stress, worry and concern for kids increases warrior moms' susceptibility to mental and physical strains and can carry long-term consequences for a healthy family life.

Defense Department officials are holding a weekly working group to examine ways to make it easier for military spouses to operate small businesses out of their on-base homes.

"We have to figure out how to enable military spouses to be the entrepreneurs we know they are. In this age of Etsy and Pinterest, now more than ever, we need to remove barriers to the American spirit called entrepreneurship," Rosemary Williams, who oversees military community and family policy for the DoD, told Military.com in a statement.

There is both good news and bad news for active-duty service members and their families in the new 2016 Basic Allowance for Housing rates that will take effect Jan. 1.

The good news: Average rates will climb by 3.4 percent in the aggregate across all locations and paygrades, or an average of about $54 per month in dollar terms, defense officials say.

In fact, among the 138 BAH locations with at least 800 assigned troops receiving the allowance, only 34 — roughly one-quarter — will see average rates decline.

Jack Ferguson had no idea it was going to be this hard.

Replacing your rucksack with a book bag full of college textbooks is no easy thing, he says.

But it’s all the harder when you’re lugging around a diaper bag, as well. And helping the older kids with their homework, even while you’re trying to crank out your own term papers.

Ferguson and his wife, Stefanie, are both Army veterans and both full-time students at the University of Washington in Seattle.

And with three kids — all under the age of 8 — they’re very much full-time parents as well.