Signs That You Were Raised In A Military Family

Lots of incredibly brave men and women are willing to put their lives on the line to defend everyone’s freedom and protect the nation. While everyone can see and hear about their everyday operations, people in a military family, especially the kids, can get a unique taste of that life.

Their lives are shaped by their parents’ dedication to service and commitment to their passion and profession. With that in mind, we wish to feature the following tell-tale signs that you grew up in a military family:

It was like nobody ever had a first name!

You’re probably used to your father calling everyone by their last names, as one’s military habits just can’t be forgotten. It’s no surprise that you inherited the habit of calling other kids by their last names as well, and this one was a pretty obvious sign that you came from a military family!

Anyone who is older than you gets to be referred to as “ma’am or sir”.

Calling an adult “ma’am” or “sir” is another natural mannerism and phenomenon. And you should always keep that in mind. You certainly know how to give respect to elders and fellowmen.

You’ve got friends all over the world.

This is the other side of the moving coin and perhaps another advantage of moving from one place to another. Since you move around all the time, you meet other military families who have lived it what always seems like more and more exotic places. Experiencing all of these different cultures really broadens your scope of the world and teaches you that people are people, wherever they are from.

Your respect to the American flag and to the national anthem is immeasurable.

For one, you’ve caught yourselves standing straight for the national anthem in the weirdest of places. We bet you’ve stood up while you listened to it from a movie in the cinema, and it actually feels weird to you if you don’t hear it often. Moreover, whenever you hear the Retreat and Evening Colors announcements, you always stop!

Skipping your chores was not an option.

Your house was definitely not a training camp, but you knew that everything had to be tidy and ready for the next day. That’s a mentality only soldiers possess, and you knew that you would be punished if you received a warning for not having made your bed! That was actually not a bad habit at all, as you were taught how to be responsible, disciplined and independent from a pretty young age.

You simply find it really difficult to explain to people where you come from. 

Being in a military family means you don’t get to stay too long in a specific town, and you often move to other places around the US. By the time you reached your teenage years, you had already moved to several different locations, and you realized that home was a state of mind, not necessarily a place on the map.

Answering this question always seems a huge challenge when all you want to do is to keep your mouth shut and explain nothing to anyone. After all, you don’t owe them any, do you?

You’ve learned the phonetic alphabet along with your first words and letters. 

Army men use the phonetic alphabet, which consists of certain words, to identify letters with the help of a phone or a radio transmitter. For instance, the word “War” could mean “White And Red”, following the phonetic alphabet’s rules.

Following in your soldier parent’s footsteps, you use acronyms with ease and very often. You also know what several army-slang words mean, and you easily identify their context. “Hooah” is a common word soldiers use, and you, as a child, already knew what it meant, even if nobody explained its meaning to you. By the way, it means “Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged”.

At a very young age, you learned your Sponsor’s Social Security Number by heart. 

A quick check on your ID card will reveal your sponsor’s social security number. It’s placed right next to your physical features, and you made sure that you always remembered that number, no matter what. These numbers are more than mere references, they surely represent how responsible you could be to protect yourself and your sponsor.

Memorial Day means a lot to you.

For most, Memorial Day marks the first day of summer and is celebrated with barbecues and pool parties. Those traditions and celebrations really don’t change if you are in a military family, just the attitude surrounding the day is amplified.

Being with people who have served their country and have friends or family who paid the ultimate sacrifice makes Memorial Day a special day to raise a glass to old friends and to celebrate our freedoms. For you, it’s more than just a commemorative celebration, it’s more of a chance to reunite with your loved ones and pay tribute to their selfless service to their countrymen and the nation as a whole.

“Being Late” Doesn’t Mean The Same To You. 

One thing’s for sure: being late when you’re a soldier will only get you into trouble. Your military parent probably insisted that you always were on time, and this grew in you. You used to go to school and parties some minutes earlier because getting there the exact time that you arranged actually meant being late!

You want everything to be perfect, especially your image. 

Military men are usually perfectionists, and even if some are not, they are obliged to regularly shave and maintain a well-presented image. A soldier’s appearance reflects his mental composure and sense of responsibility.

Just like your army parent, you always took good care of your appearance, and never followed too extreme or flashy fashion trends. Your image mirrored your maturity and perfectionism.

One thing is for sure: being a military brat is both an advantage and a privilege.

Congrats, you’re one of them!