What It's Like Being a Military Brat

A Story by Madeline

Just a small taste of what is is like to grow up as a military brat.

“Where are you from?” Easily the most dreaded question by every military brat. I tend to respond with “Well, would you like to know where I was born, where I lived the longest, where I enjoyed living the most, or where I lived last?” (The answers are San Diego, Virginia Beach, Italy, and Texas). People tend to be somewhat taken aback by my response. Mainly because they are unfamiliar with military brats and their lifestyle. Some are even confused why we call ourselves “brats” to begin with. While there’s positives and negatives to being a military, I could not be more proud to call myself a “brat”.

Without a doubt the best part of being a military brat (Navy, to be exact), is the travelling. In my twenty years alone, I have been to more countries around the world than I have states in the U.S.! While living in Italy we would be able to make weekend trips to other countries effortlessly. Being surrounded by so many different countries and others from cultures, it allows us to be open-minded and understanding to those different than us.

Of course, we move around often. Depending on how you look at it, this is a good and a bad thing. When you move every two or three years, you learn how to adapt pretty quickly. You also learn some good people and social skills when trying to make new friends. The negative aspect of the constant moving is that you never truly feel “at home”. As you get older you become very fickle and restless, and the feeling of not having a hometown never leaves.

Easily the worst part of being a military brat is the deployments. Our parents miss so many important parts of lives, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and even actual birthdays. When your parents are deployed you are filled with unbearable anxiety and concern. Until your parents come back from a deployment concentrating on anything seems impossible.

There is nothing quite like being a military brat. It’s an incredible experience that shapes who you are. Though there are a multitude of hardships, I can’t imagine a more remarkable way to grow up.