Researchers look at Jacksonville to measure impact of deployment
Updated: 05/21/2012 02:28 PM
By: Kevin Reopelle
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- Researchers are studying Jacksonville to find out the impact military deployments have on families and the community.
Jacksonville is home to Camp Lejeune and MCAS-New River as well as thousands of military families. During the peak of deployments in 2011, more than 15,000 service members from the region were deployed.
Military spouse Tricia Ross says it's tough to describe how a deployment affects her family.
"The impact of every deployment is different. It depends on the length of time that my husband is gone. The area that we might believe that he's going to. Every time is a different time. No two times are the same," she said.
The study is being conducted by the Institute of Medicine and aims to find ways to lessen the impact of deployments on a community. Jacksonville city manager Dr. Richard Woodruff says a study like this has never been conducted there and it would be very beneficial to see the results of the research.
"Those multiple deployments can add up so these type of studies are absolutely essential so that we can provide the services from a city government stand point to help those people when they return," said Woodruff.
The research being done in Jacksonville is the second phase of the study but the most recent findings won't be released until next year. The first part of the study was published in 2010 and is available here.
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