A three-phase, longitudinal study at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., of family problems with prolonged father absence indicates that there is (1) continuing family growth beyond the situational crisis, (2) active re-examination of roles and values, and (3) heightened awareness of family strength and resourcefulness during the career-syntonic, non-life endangering 13-month father absences of professional military men. Before family separation, 67 families with five- to eight-year old sons participated in an assessment evaluation including interviews, standard and experimental test batteries, and inventories. All objective measures were repeated with 40 families, six to nine months after family separation. Some six months after family reintegration, 18 families (12 experimental, six control) were re-evaluated. Family adaptation during father absence was marked by social introversion, role reversal, and developmental phase prolongation. The families coped by means of direct, appropriate problem-solving and substitutive gratifications. Recommendations for community support of families facing extended father absence include primary, secondary, and tertiary problem prevention considerations from the educational, religious, and medical communities.