[2] In November 2012, it was confirmed that season 6 main cast members Catherine Bell, Wendy Davis, Terry Serpico, Brian McNamara, Kelli Williams, Alyssa Diaz, and Joseph Julian Soria would return as regulars.

[7] Based on the non-fiction book originally titled Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives, by Tanya Biank, the series is set at fictional Fort Marshall, at the old Charleston Naval Base, in North Charleston, South Carolina, home to the also fictional 23rd Airborne Division, a component unit of the XVII Airborne Corps.

Another Army wife, Pamela Moran (Brigid Brannagh), is pregnant with twins; she is secretly acting as a surrogate to get her family out of debt.

Pamela's husband Chase (Jeremy Davidson) is a non-commissioned officer assigned to the highly secretive and frequently deployed Special Operations Unit Delta Force.

The unlikely group bonds when Pamela unexpectedly goes into labor at Claudia Joy's house at the wives' tea party, and subsequently gives birth on a pool table at the Hump Bar where Roxy works.

Along with their spouses and other characters, they face issues such as deployments, abuse, hostage situations, adultery, post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD, death and loss of friends and loved ones in combat, homophobia in the military, financial problems, and alcohol and prescription drug addiction.

For example, in the book, Andrea Lynn Cory (the basis of Claudia Joy) loses her husband in a helicopter crash during a mission to find the remains of soldiers in Vietnam.

She met with Deborah Spera, the president of The Mark Gordon Company, and pitched a film adaptation of the book, which would begin and end with a murder.

[16][17] Local landmarks prominently featured include the Unitarian Church in Charleston and parts of the city's waterfront.

[20] In August 2008, the series' creator Katherine Fugate also left, stating: "With the show [being] such an established hit, now seems like a logical time for me to step away and focus on developing new projects.

[25] On June 13, 2010, Deadline Hollywood reported that Lifetime was pursuing a spin-off procedural drama television series for Army Wives featuring Brannagh's character, police officer Pamela Moran.

[28] Writing for CinemaBlend, Kelly West found the series positively portrays real army wives through its main characters who are "all strong women with a good sense of the importance of friendship, love and appreciating the time they have with their husbands, who are often being deployed overseas for months or longer."

She described the series as "engaging", adding: "As a drama about the bonds of friendship and the importance of family, Army Wives works.

"[29] New York Post's columnist Linda Stasi gave Army Wives three-and-a-half out of four stars, referring to it as a "sexy, smart, compelling series", and also lauded the acting and the writing.

[30] The Chicago Tribune praised Lifetime for tackling, through Army Wives, the effects war has on the families "in a surprisingly straightforward manner.

"[32] Brian Lowry of Variety was less enthusiastic upon screening the first episodes, describing Army Wives as "a stereotypical sudser that wants to be From Here to Eternity but feels like All My Children: Military Edition.

[34] The Chicago Tribune called Catherine Bell who "uses her typical subtlety and grace to give an intriguing interior life to Denise Sherwood," and Kim Delaney who portrays Claudia Joy Holden "the best two things about the show" while the newspaper deemed Roxy (Sally Pressman) "the most problematic character" because she does "preposterous and downright stupid things" in the first episodes.

[31] On the contrary, Rob Owen found Denise Sherwood and Claudia Joy Holden "the most passive, least interesting characters" and considered Roxy and Trevor (Drew Fuller) "the liveliest couple", adding the show "sparks to life anytime these two are on screen.

[32] Linda Stasi called Frank Sherwood, portrayed by Terry Serpico, a "rivetingly wonderful character.

That made Wives the top-rated drama premiere in Lifetime's key demographic for 2009, though the show declined 22% among total viewers later in the year.