Military children are in a league of their own and, at a very young age, are thrust into highly stressful situations. Approximately 1.2 million children live in U.S. military families (Kelly. 2003), and at least 700,000 of them have had at least one parent deployed (Johnson et al. 2007). Every child handles deployment differently, some may regress in potty training and others may become extremely aggressive. Many different things can happen. In most cases, when a parent is deployed and the child becomes difficult to manage, it can cause tremendous stress on the parent who is not deployed as well as additional stress for the parent who is deployed. There are three stages of a deployment, pre-deployment, deployment and reintegration. Being informed about these three things can help the deployment “go smoothly” for the whole family. The pre-deployment stage can be extremely stressful for the family, of the three stages it is most often the worst. During the pre-deployment phase, parents may sometimes be preoccupied with preparing and anticipating the member's departure for active duty and will spend little time preparing their children. When a child finds out a parent is deployed, they can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotion. The child will go through two phases: waiting for separation and emotional withdrawal. The separation expectation typically occurs six to eight weeks before deployment. Feelings during this phase can range from excitement, to denial, to fear, or even anger. Emotional withdrawal usually occurs a week before deployment. Feelings that most children will experience include ambivalence, fear, resentment, and even guilt (U.S. Department of Defense, n.d.). In the middle of the document....... (2007). The psychological needs of U.S. military personnel and their families: A preliminary report. (Presidential Task Force on Military Deployment Services for Youth, Families, and Servicemembers). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Kelly, M. L. (2003). Geographic mobility, family and maternal variables linked to the psychological adaptation of military children. Military medicine, 168, 1019-1024. Pavlicin, K.M. (2003). Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Families. St. Paul, MN: Elva ResaU.S. Ministry of Defense. (nd) Educator's Guide for Military Children During Deployment. Retrieved March 18, 2010, from http://k12.wa.us/OperationMilitaryKids/pubdocs/educatorsguide.pdfUSO, Inc. (2009). United by reading. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from http://uso.org/whatwedo/usoprograms/unitedthroughreading/