Alcoholics can't moderate their drinking. That's a given. And one needs to devote themselves to sobriety in the beginning as much as they needed to devote themselves to drinking. Hopefully, this will not result in cult like participation in AA, but some in AA do switch addictions from alcohol to AA. Not all do that, but there is a pull that AA exerts, as it encourages life long participation and claims that those who stop coming to meetings will drink again.
I felt a heady pull in AA myself, based mostly on the giddiness of early sobriety, and after my initial breakthrough, I actually made it a point to pull back and moderate my participation while seeking out other areas of enrichment to broaden and normalize my life. I eventually left AA altogether. The sober environment was what kept me there for as long as it did. Devoting my life to the 12 Steps held no interest for me.
I don't know if your husband is off on just another intoxication in the form of a cult trip, has plans to come back to you, or not. Everyone makes choices about what they want to do with their lives. Recovery has been known to drastically alter relationships, sometimes terminating them completely. And for many AA becomes their whole life, perhaps their only life. That doesn't always happen, of course. Many do sober up and manage to live full lives with their original partners. That can happen in or out of AA.