Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 30, 2007

A military brat is a person whose parent or parents served full-time in the armed forces during the person's childhood. In conventional usage, the word "brat" is derogatory; in a military context, however, it is neither a subjective nor a judgmental term. Although the term "military brat" is used in other English-speaking countries, only the United States has studied its military brats as an identifiable demographic. This group is shaped by frequent moves, absence of a parent, authoritarian family dynamics, strong patriarchal authority, the threat of parental loss in war, and the militarization of the family unit. As adults, military brats share many of the same positive and negative traits developed from their mobile childhoods. Having had the opportunity to live around the world, military brats often have a breadth of experiences unmatched by most teenagers. Regardless of race, religion, nationality, or gender, brats identify more with other highly mobile children than with non-mobile ones. Many are typically highly educated, outgoing and patriotic, and they have been raised in a culture that emphasizes loyalty, honesty, discipline, and responsibility. Many struggle to develop and maintain deep lasting relationships, feeling like outsiders to U.S. civilian culture. This subculture cuts across other cultural identities. (more...)

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