Church members in the military often serve aboard ships or are deployed to locations where there are no wards or branches. To help meet the spiritual needs of these members, service member groups are organized with a Melchizedek Priesthood holder selected as the group leader from among the military members. Sometimes military members are restricted to the military installation because of training requirements and are not allowed to leave the base to attend Church meetings at the local ward. If only a small number are affected by this restriction or if it is a short-term situation, then a service member group should be formed to meet the spiritual needs of the group. However, if the situation will be a long-standing restriction, such as recruits attending basic training, then consideration should be given to establishing a branch.