That's the way it is for a brat. We have no home town. We have no school allegiance. We were raised in a highly mobile, shifting community in which the only rules are those of behavior and performance and loyalty and a quirky sense of caste. Military brats form one of the largest sub-groups in the United States, and one of the most unrecognized.
Estimates vary, but they're all in the millions.
It's not so bad now in the military. In the late 1970s, the Pentagon recognized that military families have unique problems and began aggressive counseling and help programs to alleviate the symptoms of rootlessness. Brats have certain behavioral characteristics that come from growing up in a nomadic warrior society, both beneficial and self-destructive. For a brat, it's a troubling, exhilarating read, because each page seems to be illuminated by lightning. Wertsch has tapped into the secret psychological heritage code that subliminally unites brats.