Military brat (U.S. subculture)

This article is about American military brats. For a worldwide view, see Military brat.
An American child holds on to her father's leg while saying goodbye to him prior to his 2006 deployment to Southwest Asia during the war on terror

In the United States, a military brat (also known by various "brat" derivatives[a]) is the child of a parent(s), adopted parent(s), or legal guardian(s) serving full-time in the United States Armed Forces, whether current or former. The term military brat can also refer to the subculture and lifestyle of such families.[1][2]

The military brat lifestyle typically involves moving to new states or countries many times while growing up, as the child's military family is customarily transferred to new non-combat assignments; consequently, many military brats never have a home town.[3] War-related family stresses are also a commonly occurring part of military brat life.[1][2] There are also other aspects of military brat life that are significantly different in comparison to the civilian American population, often including living in foreign countries and/or diverse regions within the U.S., exposure to foreign languages and cultures, and immersion in military culture.[1][2][4]

The military brats subculture has emerged over the last 200 years.[1][2] The age of the phenomenon has meant military brats have also been described by a number of researchers as one of America's oldest and yet least well-known and largely invisible subcultures.[2][5] They have also been described as a "modern nomadic subculture".[5]

Military brat is known in U.S. military culture as a term of endearment and respect.[1][2] The term may also connote a military brat's experience of mobile upbringing,[1][2] and may refer to a sense of worldliness.[1][2] Research has shown that many current and former military brats like the term; however, outside of the military world, the term military brat can sometimes be misunderstood by the non-military population, where the word brat is often a pejorative term.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wertsch, Mary Edwards (April 23, 1991). Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress (1st hardcover ed.). Harmony. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-517-58400-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Musil, Donna (director, writer, producer); Goodwin, Beth (producer); Kristofferson, Kris (narrator). Brats: Our Journey Home. (DVD video documentary). 90 min. Brats Without Borders, 2006. ISBN 0-9774907-1-8
  3. ^ Wertsch (1991), p. 247.
  4. ^ Hawkins, John P. "Army of Hope, Army of Alienation: Culture and Contradiction in the American Army Communities of Cold War Germany" [Hardcover]
  5. ^ a b Ender, Morton, "Military Brats and Other Global Nomads", March 2002, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-275-97266-0, ISBN 0-275-97266-6
  6. ^ Wertsch (1991), p. 4.