What to Know
When Jill Duggar‘s younger brother Joseph Duggar was arrested for charges related to child molestation, no one expected Jill and her husband Derick Dillard to suddenly make an announcement about his job. But Jill shared on Instagram that they wrote a blog post about Derick’s career change on the family website and people are intrigued. Jill has been vocal about issues between herself and Derick and her father, Jim Bob Duggar. She isn’t totally removed from the family, but if ever there was a black sheep due to some fundamental differences in ways of living, it might be Jill.
Hearing a life-changing announcement from one of the so-called rebels of the family could be a big deal for everyone. Derick already attended and graduated from law school, though, so some fans are confused by a career move that would rival his decision to become an attorney.
Jill Duggar said Derick had these plans all along.
In the middle of yet another Duggar family controversy, Derick has joined the military. According to the family’s blog, Derick applied to the Marine Corps in March 2026. Luckily for them, his admission came right on time so they could high tail it out of town and not have to face any of the Duggar family members as Joseph’s legal troubles continue to make headlines.
“After Derick’s 10 weeks of intense training at OCS, Jill and the kids will move to join him in Virginia, and then Rhode Island for the remainder of his training,” the Dillard family blog post said.
They also wrote that Derick received a letter of recruitment in 2025, but that the timing wasn’t right for the family. Now, however, the timing is apparently perfect for the family of five. Does that have anything to do with Joseph and his wife Kendra Duggar’s legal battles? Who can really say?
On a Reddit thread about Derick’s career change, some people who tend to follow the Duggars out of morbid curiosity rather than support commented to share their surprise. Others joked about the culture shock that Jill and her family are bound to face in Quantico, Va. As one person put it, “Ya ain’t in Arkansas anymore!”
“I love that they’ll move to one of the most liberal areas in the entire country,” someone commented on the thread.
Another added, “They’ll have a time finding an ultra conservative church around there for sure.”
“I wonder if they’ll send the boys to public school or homeschool,” a Redditor wrote. “Northeast public school will most certainly be a (very beneficial) culture shock for a Duggar kid.”
Someone else wrote, just for good measure, “I absolutely wouldn’t suggest the military at this time to anyone, but this will support his family and move farther from her family so…”
No one saw this move in Derick Dillard’s future.
On another Reddit thread about Jill and Derick’s plans for their future, people joked that Derick joining the Marines or military in any way was not on their respective bingo cards for 2026. Same. Someone else joked that “our bingo cards for this year really need to be redesigned!!” Others questioned why Derick even wanted to join the military since he already had a prior job as an attorney. But, according to some, it’s for the benefits and stability.
“My uncle joined the Army as JAG after passing the bar and practicing law in Chicago simply for the benefits,” someone shared in the comments on the thread.
Someone else added, “Yeah, it doesn’t seem to make much sense. This guy is always all over the place.”
The benefits and stability of a government job, especially for a Duggar in-law, makes sense. That doesn’t mean that anyone saw this move coming, though.
His military role has to do with his law degree.
Per the family blog post, Derick’s role with the Marines isn’t about seeing active duty, but instead something that allows him to use the law degree that Jill once posted about quite a lot on social media, much to her critics’ annoyance. He will enter “intense training” to become a JAG officer, which is an attorney who defends members of the military specifically. And, while people don’t really understand when this idea of Derick joining the Marines never came up on social media before, they do understand why he decided to join, with this role specifically.
First, Jinger Duggar moved out of state, and now, Jill and her family are headed pretty far from Arkansas. As the Duggars would say, it’s a brand new season of life for all of them.
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