Today, because the world is sufficiently at peace, the Armed Forces of the United States, England, and other nations permit the families of service personnel to accompany them from installation to installation and to travel to overseas areas. Such movement of families, or "dependents," as they are known by the Armed Forces, is not possible during periods of war. Consequently, during World Wars I and II and during the Korean War, Christian Science Activities for the Armed Services devoted itself primarily to assisting Christian Scientists in uniform and so gave less aid to dependents. Since the end of the Korean War, this department of The Mother Church has given increasing help to dependents.

From the standpoint of the Armed Forces, dependents are those individuals who have been listed by service personnel on their service records as dependents. Usually enlisted men and officers list as their dependents only their immediate families, that is, their wives and children. However, there may be occasional exceptions to this general rule. Dependents who are Christian Scientists do not have to be the relatives of Christian Scientists in the Armed Forces to receive the ministrations of Christian Science Chaplains, Ministers, and Representatives. As long as they state that their religious preference is Christian Science, they may be included in the activities of these field workers.

The Armed Forces of the United States classify service personnel and their dependents as part of the military establishment, and in consequence grant them free medication and hospitalization, post exchange and commissary privileges, and other fringe benefits. Other countries that have Christian Science service personnel follow similar Armed Forces policies. Cognizant of this situation, Christian Science Activities for the Armed Services gives free Christian Science literature and treatment to Christian Scientists and their dependents in the Armed Forces.

Armed Services Activities has three exceptions to the above general rule. In the first place, it does not give individual Christian Scientists in the Armed Forces or their dependents subscriptions to Christian Science periodicals. However, it will arrange for these people to receive packages of free noncurrent Christian Science literature.

Secondly, Armed Services Activities does not offer free Christian Science literature and treatment to the dependents of service personnel who are not in the same area as the service personnel. Examples of this are the following: A man stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, who has dependents living in New York City, and a man serving overseas whose dependents are in the United States. Thirdly, Armed Services Activities does not give dependents Christian Science identification tags or Service Editions of the Bible and of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures' by Mary Baker Eddy.

Armed Services Activities maintains a file for dependents who register themselves with this department. As soon as this office receives the name of a dependent, it acquaints her with the name of the Christian Science Chaplain, Minister, or Representative at the military installation in which or near which she is living and invites her to become affiliated with Christian Science activities there.

Chaplains, Ministers, and Representatives have many opportunities to serve Christian Science families in the Armed Forces. After making their acquaintance, the field worker explains to them about the Christian Science activities that are available in his area. He invites them to attend church services and offers them literature. Because a high percentage of these families have children, our field workers are often called upon to help meet the needs of these children.

When there are no Christian Science churches or societies near military installations and when there are a sufficient number of dependent children whose parents are Christian Scientists, our Chaplains, Ministers, and Representatives have organized informal Sunday Schools to help meet the needs of these children. Although most of these Sunday Schools have small enrollments, some have had as high as thirty to forty pupils. The teachers of the classes are usually members of the Armed Forces and their dependents.

This department of The Mother Church is grateful to the many dependents who have assisted its activities by serving as Readers, musicians, and ushers at Sunday services and at midweek meetings, by teaching Sunday School, by distributing literature, and by accepting other responsibilities. Some dependents have been appointed Christian Science Ministers.

The families of members of the Armed Forces are faced with problems of adjustment, dislocation, separation, inadequate finances, assignment, personal relationships, schooling, and church and Sunday School attendance. Added to these problems are the challenges that come from living in unfamiliar surroundings, in foreign lands, and amid different cultures and religions. Our Chaplains, Ministers, and Representatives report good fruitage in their work for dependents. They have healed them of a wide variety of diseases and have helped them overcome the problems listed above.