I may be reading too much into it.
Maybe... maybe not... but assumptions are the mother of all f*ckups, to put it simple. Being in a combat zone occupies your attention, typically to spouses and immediate family as priority, especially when contact is limited due to operational requirements. Operations can be boring, then busy, then boring... never knowing when which cycle will hit and for how long. I'd been around one day, gone for a week, two or month or longer with zero contact to the outside world. People at home knew that upfront... so to expect it. There were times when I just didn't feel like contacting home, because dealing with there was enough, and adding home into my life was just another stressor I didn't want at some times whilst deployed.
I do get it... there is a there, and a here. Going from being here, to suddenly one here, one there, changes things drastically. Spouses get that the most IMO, then dealing with the different person that often returns home, having to pickup family life and society, integrate their spouse, work on knowing one another again, and a long list of problems.
Again... maybe, maybe not. The only way you will know things is by asking whatever is on your mind to him, as he is the only one who can answer some obvious questions you may want answers to.
