It depends on the outlook to what is important, how strong the relationship and what each of you wants from the relationship.
I've had a long distance relationship for about two years, and it's worked very well. The distance may not be quite as far in miles now, gone from 415 miles to 250 miles, give or take a couple. But that move has meant he's away much more often, and about to head out to the sand in a few weeks time for several months. The way I view it is that he's the one who important in this, he's the one who has to go away, he's the one who has to face god knows what sh1t, so he's not going to get sh1t on home turf. We make time for each other, and that time is always well spent and quality time. Before he goes away I expect him to spend as much time as possible doing what he wants, when he gets back I expect the same. Yes that does mean going down the pub, being with his mates, kicking ar5e at darts and drinking the brewery dry, at times I help with that. I know when he's out there that contact may not be often from him, sometimes even a blank e-mail shows me he's okay, but he gets frequent parcels and contact from me, it's always good to get mail.
So like I say, it can work but it does depend on how you both see it.
