Army Life

Living life as an army brat had lots of pros and cons. Army brats have certain personality traits that are rare to find in children. There is no way to explain it though. Just being around an army brat you can feel the difference from other children. There is a sense of maturity and a feeling that these kids had to grow up faster. My dad was deployed many times as well as many of my friend’s dads and I always hated to hear the son in the family be told “You’re going to have to be the man of the house.” For me for a while I felt like I was the man of the house. I’m not sure why. As my brother got older I heard people say that to him and it broke my heart. My little brother took that very seriously. The emotional toll it took on him made things even worse. My little brother wasn’t the only one told this though many of our family friend’s sons were told this too. For a moment I am going to somewhat go off track. People PLEASE stop saying this to these boys. They need to be a child not a man of the house.

As an army brat you feel like you have to grow up a lot faster than other kids. If you are the older sibling you get to help with the little ones because even though moms are amazing they can’t do it all alone. When your parent gets deployed you hear your mom crying at night or see make up that has been running down her face from the tears. Or when you come home from school and your parents have you sit down to tell you that your best friend’s father lost his life in Iraq. It’s the things like that that make you grow up a little faster than other kids.

With the military you have your family and then you have your military family. When there is a deployment you have your battle buddies which are other families who have a soldier deployed. This is one of the pros because you gain a bond with these other families that could never be replaced. If you are lucky you’ll end up going to the same duty station when you move.

Speaking of moving this is either a pro or a con depending on the person. Some people grow up in the same town and know all the same people. You do something embarrassing and everyone will remember. For me every move I was able to start over. I was able to change the little things about myself that I didn’t like. I went through all the fun phases. I was a serious tom boy that is still there though; I was a skater, a prep, and my personal favorite a lesbian. Although being a lesbian is not a phase.

One of the cons though for me is I am very shy. I had trouble fitting in almost everywhere we went. Eventually I would make a few really good friends but then we would leave and I had to start all over again. Before every move my mom told my sister and I the same thing, “You are going there already with one best friend and you’ll be leaving with that best friend.” I have always felt lucky for that because my big sister was my best friend everywhere and always.

The Army life is like a rollercoaster. You never know where you’ll go next. You never know who you’ll meet next. One thing you do know is that during that rollercoaster you aren’t alone. You have your family and your military family. As well as you have a whole Army who has your 6. There is no greater support system than an Army.