Army kids, also known as military brats, are the children of active duty military personnel. They grow up in a unique environment and culture due to their parents’ careers. Here is an in-depth look at army kids and what they are called.
The Term “Military Brat”
The most common term used to describe army kids is “military brats.” This phrase has been around since the 19th century when it was used to describe British soldiers’ children. It started as a derogatory term implying spoiled or privileged children. However, over time it has been reclaimed by many army kids as a badge of honor.
The term “brat” itself simply means a child or minor. So a military brat is the child of someone serving full-time in the armed forces. It encompasses kids from all branches including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Space Force.
Some people dislike the term “brat” due to its negative connotations. Alternate phrases like “military kids,” “military dependents,” or “military children” are sometimes used instead. Others continue using “military brat” with pride for the unique subculture it represents.
Traits of Military Brats
Growing up as a military brat leads to some shared experiences and characteristics different from civilian kids. Here are some common traits associated with army kids:
- High mobility – frequent moves to new duty stations
- Attend many different schools growing up
- Comfortable making new friends in new places
- Able to adapt to new environments
- Find it hard to maintain long-term friends
- Have friends all over the country or world
- Feel “rootless” or lack a home town
- Don’t identify with one place
- Feel separate from civilian culture
- Have strong sense of military or “brat” culture
- Fiercely loyal to military parent(s)
- Take rank and protocol very seriously
- Mature faster than civilian peers
- Highly independent and self-sufficient
Of course, not all military brats relate to all these traits. But many find they can identify with a lot of shared quirks and experiences unique to growing up as an army kid.
Where Military Brats Grow Up
Military brats grow up living on or near military bases both in the US and sometimes abroad. Army kids might live in:
- On-base family housing quarters provided by the military
- Off-base civilian housing rented by military parents
- Dormitory or barrack rooms on base if space is limited
- On-base trailer parks or campgrounds
- Military boarding schools
- With relatives if parents cannot bring family on deployment
- Overseas military communities abroad
Wherever they live, military communities and culture surround army kids. Bases provide familiarity with strict protocols, uniforms, PXs, deployment cycles, and frequent moves wherever they go.
Advantages of Growing Up As A Military Brat
Despite the challenges, many army kids feel their unique childhoods gave them distinct advantages. Some positives of the brat lifestyle include:
- Opportunity to live abroad and experience other cultures
- Learn to adapt to new environments and make friends easily
- Gain resilience and independence dealing with frequent moves
- Exposure to military discipline and structure
- Patriotism and pride in a military parent’s service
- Receive quality education in DoD and base schools
- Familiar community and lifestyle on military bases worldwide
- Develop close-knit friendships with fellow brats
- Travel benefits like Space A flights
- Access to a large network of brats around the world
Army kids also gain a special bond with their parents and families through shared experiences of military life. Many feel their mobile upbringing gave them openness to new places and people.
Challenges for Military Brats
However, growing up as an army kid also comes with unique difficulties including:
- Frequent moves to new duty stations every 2-3 years
- Hard to develop long-term friendships
- New schools and challenges fitting in each move
- Making and losing friends with each move
- Trouble maintaining relationships and connections
- Feelings of rootlessness with no hometown
- Parental deployments – months away from military parent
- Frequent worries about deployed parent’s safety
- Difficulty relating to civilian peers
- Feelings of impermanence and transition
- Academic disruptions with school changes
- Lack of stability and permanence in life
This mobile lifestyle can lead some brats to feel isolated, disconnected, or like they don’t belong. Therapists work with many military brats dealing with issues like attachment, anxiety, grief, and absentee parents.
Effects of Growing Up As A Military Brat
Studies show military brats actually tend to excel academically and professionally compared to civilian children. Effects of growing up as an army kid include:
- Do exceptionally well in academics
- Adapt well to change and unfamiliar settings
- Have advanced problem-solving skills
- Relate well to authority figures
- Achieve higher education and career levels
- Gain strong coping skills and resiliency
- Develop high levels of independence
- Proficient making new friends and socializing
- Comfortable traveling and experiencing new cultures
- Tolerant and open-minded to differences
Studies attribute these strengths to dealing firsthand with challenges like frequent moves, parental deployments, cultural changes, and adapting to new schools and friends.
Difficulties military brats sometimes deal with include:
- Issues making and keeping long-term friends
- Feeling like they don’t belong anywhere
- Difficulty committing to relationships, careers, or places
- Existential questions about “home” and where they’re from
- Trouble transitioning to civilian life after growing up in military
- Post-traumatic stress from parental deployments
- Attachment issues from frequent separations
- Grief and loss from mobile lifestyle
- Difficulty forgiving or understanding civilian ignorance
Therapists specializing in military family life help brats work through these struggles.
Military Brat Culture and Community
Military brats share a distinct culture and community growing up in the armed forces lifestyle. As kids they participate in:
- Base schools like DoDDs overseas or base schools in U.S.
- Military family support groups on base
- Base kids’ sports leagues, rec centers, teen clubs etc.
- Boy/Girl Scouts connected to base
- Special base events like dinners, movie nights, fairs
- Youth groups through base chapels
- Shopping at the commissary and PX/BX
- Eating at base restaurants and food courts
- Watching base theater shows
As they grow up, brats share memories of:
- Dad leaving on deployments
- Saying goodbyes at the airfield or pier
- Missing milestones while a parent is deployed
- Making friends with other brats
- Relating to military kid peers
- Understanding ranks, protocols, acronyms
- Base hopping every few years
- First days at new duty stations
- Frequent PCS moves
- Living on or near bases worldwide
These shared experiences create unique bonds and camaraderie between brats. Social media now allows army kids to connect globally.
Notable Military Brats
Many brats achieve great success in adulthood across all fields. Notable military brats include:
| Name | Field |
|---|---|
| Kris Kristofferson | Musician, actor |
| Jessica Alba | Actress |
| Shannon Lee | Actress, martial artist |
| Johnny Cash | Musician |
| Marc Anthony | Singer, actor |
| Mary Edwards Wertsch | Anthropologist |
| LaVar Burton | Actor, TV host |
| Dan Rather | Journalist |
| Alan Alda | Actor, activist |
| Joe Biden | Politician, U.S. President |
This list demonstrates how growing up as an army brat equipped many kids with tools for remarkable success across diverse fields like the arts, academia, politics, and more.
Resources for Military Brats
Many great resources exist to help support brats through mobile military lifestyles including:
- Military child education coalitions
- School liaison officers
- Military family life counselors
- Social workers
- Base youth programs
- Teen support groups
- Therapists focusing on “third culture kids”
- Brats Without Borders
- Books like “Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress”
- Online military brat groups and forums
Connecting with fellow brats provides community, advice, and encouragement. Realizing shared experiences helps normalize challenges all military kids face.
Conclusion
In summary, army kids called “military brats” grow up immersed in armed forces culture. Bases worldwide provide familiar community, while frequent moves require adaptation. The brat lifestyle has unique benefits like world travel, resilience, pride, and skills acquired by changing environments. But it also brings difficulties like rootlessness, disrupted relationships, and struggling to belong. Many successful adults emerged from army brat childhoods equipped with problem-solving abilities, independence, and global awareness. Military kids appreciate connecting through shared experiences and camaraderie. Understanding the military brat subculture provides insight into this distinct, meaningful way of life.