Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Who gets the children depends on what is in their best interests. If your husband's career requires him to be deployed out of the country for significant time periods, all other things being equal, that would seem to suggest that you would be in a better position to provide stability for the children. If you are awarded sole physical custody, he would have to pay support, and it would be in the form of a direct allotment to you after entry of a court order. Whether you got sole or shared legal custody would not affect child support. As for spousal support/alimony, you sound like a good candidate for that, but it might be rehabilitative, which means for a period of time necessary to allow you to acquire the skills to reenter the job market and become self supporting. Or it could be permanent depending on how long you have been married, and other factors such relative health, age and what caused the marital breakup.