Editing Ulster Defence Regiment (section)

===Family===
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.<ref name=autogenerated9>Potter p381</ref> Whilst this did create a good ''[[Morale|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.<ref name=autogenerated9/> The hours were long and soldiers had to forfeit a normal family life.<ref name=autogenerated9/> 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.<ref>Gamble 2009, p131</ref> In 1975 there were eighty four married couples serving and fifty three family groups of three or more.<ref>Ryder p134</ref>

UDR soldiers lived in their own civilian homes,<ref>Potter p311</ref> (except for attached regular army personnel who were given "quarters").

Many lived in Protestant or Catholic [[Enclave and exclave|enclaves]] which put them within easy reach of local paramilitary or community groups. The years 1972–73 saw paramilitary threats from loyalist and republican sources. Of the 288 incidents of intimidation reported, all but twelve were from Protestants who had been threatened from within their own community. Sometimes this was to gain information or to persuade soldiers to join (or remain within) loyalist organisations.<ref name=Potter94>Potter 2001, p. 94</ref> The intimidation included: threatening letters and phone calls, abduction, shots fired from passing cars and off-duty soldiers being assaulted.<ref>Potter pp89–98</ref>

In the early days some even lived in what would later become known as "hard line areas" such as Private Sean Russell of 7 UDR who lived in the [[New Barnsley]] Estate in Belfast.  This led to many UDR soldiers becoming targets for various paramilitary groups whilst off duty and indeed Sean Russell was subsequently targeted and killed whilst at home, in front of his family.<ref name="Potter60" />