But they're in a profession where not going has other connotations. There are other pressures associated with their decision to go or not. There could be a price to pay for voluntarily staying home while others are gone.
As you say, there should be 18 months separating a rotation. But when we were in Valcartier, the wives there told us the members were gone 12 to 18 months--on rotation, in training, or training somebody else--which really puts a heavy stress on them. They don't see their families for an extended length of time. It also puts a heavy stress on the families. The children are missing their father or their mother for extended periods of time.
I don't think there's a healthy period here that you can....