Abstract
Contractor deployments play a significant role in supporting service members.Although the military has conducted multiple studies surrounding the effects of deployments, there are few that represent contractor deployments. This dissertation in practice explored the lived experiences of how deployments affect MQ-9 contractors and their married spouses. A qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was used to facilitate the understanding of what each person and each family experiences during deployments, specifically on a 90-day on, 90-day off schedule. Individual interviews were conducted with fourteen participants. All participants were married with at least one child and had been a part of at least four deployments in a 2-year period. The data were analyzed and coded. Six themes emerged: deployment scheduling process, emotions among those at home, communication, transition period before and after, non-deployed spouse taking on both roles during deployment, and lack of support during deployment. There were also two sub-themes: children and spouse. The themes identify the critical areas of interest associated with rapid contractor deployments. The study results led to two recommendations. First, to create a new, more consistent and predicable scheduling process and second to build a support network for the individuals involved in deployments. It is suggested the two solutions be developed through partnerships with external experts. This will benefit the contractors, their families, and may in turn lead to an improved workplace with lower turnover rates.
Keywords: deployment, contractor, family, leadership, MQ-9.