actually its against DoD policy and there is a federal law governing that if i am not mistaken

That's good to know, Sarge! Thanks for sharing that.

You're right. But, our experience is that the military protects it's own. My son-in-law would have been kicked out of the military a long time ago if his command had not banned together to protect him. We had to go as far as to complain to our Congressman's office. His staff took the issue to the Pentagon and some of the money was back in 24 hours, but we also complained about his command and nothing was done at all. And, I really don't get it because it's not like my son-in-law has a high priority job. He drives a poop truck and empties the lavatories on the airplanes of waste and discards it. Great job for when he gets back into the civilian world, huh?

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"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." -- Christopher Morley

lol. something like that, having been through a divorce in the military is wrong. My former spouse cheated on me but i lived up to my required responsibilities till the divorce was done. And hell she was living with another man while i was in iraq. To me its a matter of following regs and do whats right even if you are being screwed. If one of my troops did this, i would burn him. My command wouldnt have to. Also there is a federal law that a spouse can actually get a percentage of retirement as well.

But Sarge, doesn't the spouse have to be married to the member for a specific period of time? I mean, if the couple gets divorced after one year, she's not entitled to anything, right? Isn't it something like after 10 years of marriage?

It is 10 years, but he's not participating in retirement anyway. Technically the whole thing could have been ended a couple of years ago because he left right after they got married and filed the paperwork 3 months later. It could have been annulled. But, because he had his mother file the paperwork she did a petition for divorce and had him sign it. I'm a paralegal and I just groaned when I found out what was done because the petition meant several court hearings and motions flying back and forth. I told my daughter to file an Answer and Counterclaim with an At-Fault claim because we had evidence of his cheating with an officer. Even the Pentagon won't chase that one. We got a judgment on him in May and then he scooted off to Afghanistan. She had to call him in at Camp Kandahar and we thought it was a hoot because the first time she called she told the operator his wife was calling. Apparently he was standing nearby and we heard the operator say "Dude, you're married?"

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"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." -- Christopher Morley

Leads one to think that our fine airman was messing around while on deployment!!!!!

Ya think?!? Now here's the real hoot. My daughter found his on MySpace representing that he was single. So she signed up on MySpace under and assumed name and using a friend's picture. He's already told her everything she needs to know to nail him in court. And, here's the ironic thing. He's technically cheating on his wife ... with his wife. It is a hoot to see the e-mails he's writing to her thinking she's someone else.

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"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." -- Christopher Morley