Army Wives?

So my friend, who amazingly is even more of a tv addict than me, lent me the first season of Army Wives on DVD the other day. I had never heard of this show before (although they have shown it over here too), and I am really liking it so far - and loosing sleep as I have to watch "just one more episode".

Obviously, I know Tv-shows aren't usually very realistic, but I was wondering if those of you who have loved ones in the army could tell me if this is close to the truth? I think it offers a facinating insight to a life I can't even imagine - it must be so hard when your loved ones are deployed. I think you all do an amazing job, and even thought I am not an American, I know that the sacrifices being made every day by American soldiers and their families help keeping me safe as well. Thank you, all of you, for everything you do!

as a former army wife (dh was in for 8 years) i love this show. i still watch it. to me it seems like they did their homework when they did the show. that bond that the women have is awesome, much like what i had with the wives when our dhs were in iraq in 2003. we were like family, always there for each other, did fun get togethers for the kids. it was great. the show is a good way to get an idea of what its like. i get choked up when i watch it; all the emotions come back from when Chad was deployed. and then there is the not so fun parts; the cheating spouses. that does happen too, unfortunately. it makes me sick that someone could do that. anyway, there is a lot that i could go on and on about, lol. but i really love the show. i sometimes wish we were still in because there is so much i miss. especially that bond with the other wives.

I love that show! I rented the first season on Netflix this summer, and I watched it in no time at all. Rented the second season, watched it just as fast, and then I caught up on the 3rd season online. Now I look forward to Sunday nights for new episodes. GREAT show. I know nothing about "real" Army life, but this show is just fascinating to me. Love it!

I'm not an Army wife but I do love that show. It's DVRd every Sunday!

I was an army wife for several years, navy wife now, but he is reserves

The show is very dramatized, and I dont think a true representation of what Army Life is really like IMO... The closeness of the friends, is about the only thing that is true. However You would not likely find women of such different backgrounds being such close friends on an army base. I do enjoy the show, but usually because I enjoy laughing about how those things would never happen

So I'll admit you got me curious about this show so I have now watched the pilot. It was actually a lot better than I expected! I had actually heard about it back when it started but I admit I was skeptical of what it would portray and since it started literally right after my husband deployed to Iraq, I felt like I didn't really need more Army drama in my life.

As far as to how realistic the show is, I'll preface it with this: The show is loosely based on a book written about some events that happen at Fort Bragg. Ft. Bragg is what I'd call "hardcore Army" in that you don't go there unless you want to live, sleep and eat Army. It's an intense place to be and I think it attracts certain types of military people. Just keep in mind that while what they show is overall pretty realistic, it's not necessarily representative of the Army as a whole. Ft Bragg is in a league all it's own. The last time Adam was deployed, our FRG leader was someone who'd been stationed at Ft Bragg. I thought she was totally crazy with some of the things she said and did but after seeing the show, it actually made a whole lot more sense.

The only real problem I had, and this is probably the biggest hole in the show, is that there's no way a high level officer's wife would be hanging around with a low-level enlisted wife. I realize that probably sounds really snotty, haha, but I promise it's not. It's just not really how things work - it'd be like assuming the wife of an assembly line worker would be good friends with the wife of the company's CEO. You just don't tend to run in the same circles and in general, most spouse activities are divided into two categories by rank anyway. I don't know of too many situations where a Private would be hanging with a General.

I have more thoughts on the pilot but it would have been a novel so I'm not going to post them unless someone specifically wants to know.

i have such a hard time watching anything army based...

dh was in army... one of those crazy guys jumping out of planes and all that!

i get too upset when i see all that stuff... obviously dh has friends that were lost in the war, but we also had a our neighbor lost at only 19, so i dunno, i'm just overly emotional maybe....

Lauren Reid said:

i have such a hard time watching anything army based...

dh was in army... one of those crazy guys jumping out of planes and all that!

i get too upset when i see all that stuff... obviously dh has friends that were lost in the war, but we also had a our neighbor lost at only 19, so i dunno, i'm just overly emotional maybe....

Click to expand...

No I totally agree, that's why I didn't watch when the show first came out. I didn't think I could handle it if it ended up being too realistic. From what I've heard while the basic premise tries to be realistic, the story lines are not.

My DH and his roommate used to love watching that Over There show about the war in Iraq. I couldn't handle watching it at all - I always left the room.

Lynnette, my hubs likes watching all of the army/military stuff.... i'm always like, doesn't it bother you!? i'd be havin flashbacks i think!

(have i mentioned that i'm OVERLY emotional?!!? )

Nettio said:

The only real problem I had, and this is probably the biggest hole in the show, is that there's no way a high level officer's wife would be hanging around with a low-level enlisted wife. I realize that probably sounds really snotty, haha, but I promise it's not. It's just not really how things work - it'd be like assuming the wife of an assembly line worker would be good friends with the wife of the company's CEO. You just don't tend to run in the same circles and in general, most spouse activities are divided into two categories by rank anyway. I don't know of too many situations where a Private would be hanging with a General.

Click to expand...

As an Army wife, I have to totally agree! You said it perfectly, Nettio! I'd say the bonds are true, they use the right terminology, and the activities seem to be true (luncheons, teas, FRG meetings)....but spouses don't always run in the same circles, just like Nettio said. They are usually divided in two by rank. You usually run with the ones that live by you, and you live by the ones that are closest in rank to your spouse. I like how they started talking about Army Family Team Building (AFTB)! It's a great program that teaches classes about Army life to new spouses and family members, hosts classes and get togethers for families, and even supports child care for spouses of deployed soldiers....and it's close to my heart. I was a trainer for that program!