Servants of Two Masters: Work and Family in the German Armed Forces

Since the end of the Cold War the German Armed Forces have undergone a significant shift from a defense-oriented military to a mission-oriented military. This profoundly impacts on military families and on military family policies. The paper traces this shift and outlines the concequences it has on the work-life balance of German soldiers. It also tries to contextualize the work-life-balance in the military with the work-life-balance in the civilian sphere.