in some cases several members of a family would join the same unit. this led to husbands, wives, sons and daughters, even grandparents serving together. whilst this did create a good "esprit de corps" there were problems created. once anyone in a family joined the ulster defence regiment the entire household, even children, had to be educated on personal safety. the hours were long and soldiers had to forfeit a normal family life. on duty too there were issues. family members had to be split into different patrols and vehicles so that if one unit was attacked an entire family would not run the risk of being killed or wounded at the same time. in 1975 there were eighty four married couples serving and fifty three family groups of three or more.