Military brat (U.S. subculture)

"Military brat" and various "brat" derivatives describe the child of a parent or parents serving full-time in the United States Armed Forces, and can also refer to the subculture and lifestyle of such families. The term refers to both current and former children of such families.

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. War-related family stresses are also a commonly occurring part of military brat life. 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.

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