The Deployment Rollercoaster

If you are part of an armed forces family, then you might experience the ups and downs of deployment at some point.

What is ‘deployment’?

Deployment is when a parent or family member in the armed forces has to go away from home for their job, sometimes for weeks or months.

When deployment feels like a Rollercoaster 🎢

If someone in your family serves in the armed forces, their deployment can bring lots of changes – at home, in school and in how you’re feeling.

This can mean that you might need some extra emotional support and help with your learning. That’s where a new resource from Forces Children Scotland called The Deployment Rollercoaster could help!

The Deployment Rollercoaster

The Deployment Rollercoaster is an online resource created with children and young people from forces families in Scotland.

It explains how deployment can feel a bit like a rollercoaster ride – full of change, waiting, worry, excitement and everything in between.

The resource follows a family through seven different stages, from “before they go” to when things get “back to normal”, helping you explore how each part of the journey might feel.

Why might it help?

Everyone experiences deployment differently and there is no “right” way to feel.

So whether it is something you are experiencing – or something a friend is going through – it can be good to be aware of the different stages and emotions.

Even if your experience isn’t exactly the same, it could help you put words to how you’re feeling, or support someone you know who is from an armed forces family.

You can check The Deployment Rollercoaster out by clicking the button below: