What Percentage of Navy SEALs Get Divorced?

This is one of the most searched and most misunderstood questions in the Special Operations community.

The short answer is this: there is no officially published, verifiable divorce rate specific to Navy SEALs.The longer, more honest answer is far more important and far more useful for families navigating this life.

At Lotus River Wellness (LRW), we work with current and former SOF spouses every single day. And while headlines love dramatic numbers, the reality behind SEAL marriages is more complex, more human, and more nuanced than any single statistic could ever capture.

Why There Is No Official Navy SEAL Divorce Percentage

The Department of Defense does not release divorce data broken down by:

i. Special warfare units

ii. Specific MOS communities

iii. Tier-one or Tier-two operational units

Navy SEALs fall under Naval Special Warfare, and any divorce data they contribute is absorbed into broader Navy or military-wide figures which already vary widely based on rank, age, deployment tempo, and years of service.

So when you see claims like “SEAL divorce rates are 80–90%”, those numbers are not sourced from official military data. They are typically anecdotal, exaggerated, or pulled from informal surveys with small sample sizes.

What We Can Say With Confidence

While there is no confirmed percentage, most professionals working closely with the SOF community agree on a few truths:

• Divorce rates in Special Operations are higher than the general civilian population

• Multiple deployments, prolonged absences, and repeated reintegration cycles significantly strain marriages

• Emotional isolation of spouses is one of the most under-addressed risk factors

• Many marriages do not end during service but unravel during transition or post-service life

From LRW’s direct experience supporting SOF families for years, the pattern we see is not about weakness or lack of commitment it’s about systems that support the operator, but leave the spouse carrying the emotional infrastructure of the family alone.

The SEAL Marriage Reality No One Talks About

SEAL spouses often live in a state of:

• Chronic uncertainty

• Long solo parenting seasons

• Repeated identity shifts

• High emotional labor with limited outlets

• Pressure to “stay strong” without being supported

This isn’t about resilience it’s about sustainability.

Many marriages survive the hardest operational years, only to struggle later when:

i. The mission ends

ii. Structure disappears

iii. Unprocessed trauma surfaces

This is why focusing solely on “divorce rates” misses the real conversation.

The Question Isn’t “What’s the Percentage?” It’s “What Changes the Outcome?”

At Lotus River Wellness, we’ve learned something critical: Healing the operator without supporting the spouse and family is incomplete care.

Our programs exist because we’ve seen firsthand that when spouses are given:

• Education

• Nervous system tools

• Identity-building support

• Career pathways

• Community that understands this life

…the trajectory of both the individual and the family changes.

Whether someone remains married, transitions out, or rebuilds their life independently long-term wellness requires proactive support, not crisis response.

There is no single, credible percentage that defines Navy SEAL divorce rates and even if there were, it wouldn’t tell the whole story.

What matters more is this:

i. High operational tempo requires high relational support

ii. Spouses deserve education, autonomy, and community — not just endurance

iii. Generational healing starts long before marriages break

That is why Lotus River Wellness exists not to sensationalize outcomes, but to change them.