The marriage payment entitlement is a huge problem that should be addressed by the Department of Defense. In the military, the wrong financial incentives are in place in the form of marriage benefits. What 19-year-old young man or woman wouldn’t get married if they would make more money and have the opportunity to live off base? The answer? Most of them.

How many military marriages, with spouses under the age of 30, last? Across all professional fields, military workers of all ranks are most likely to be divorced by age 30, at a rate of 15 percent. (Guess what branch has the highest rate of divorce? Take a guess and I’ll give you the answer in the comments below.)

Divorce creates further problems. It affects the divorced servicemember and his/her unit’s readiness. It leads to lost time and puts financial stress on the servicemember and the military.

“I got married to her so she could get free medical and we split the marriage pay,” a young sailor said to me many years ago from his plush broom closet-sized, shag-carpeted studio apartment in Mission Beach, California.