Today I was asked exactly HOW military life can be considered a culture. Here is my answer:
We are shaped by frequent moves and we are a culture of resilience. We are constantly losing friendship ties because of constant moves. We have a facility or knack for making new friends, most of us never having a hometown and having extensive exposure to foreign cultures and languages while living overseas, as well as exposure to a wide range of regional cultural differences due to living in a variety of different American regions. Military bases serve as community centers, pervasive military culture on those bases, absence of a parent due to deployments, authoritarian family dynamics, strong patriarchal authority, threat of parental loss in war, stresses associated with the psychological aftermath of war. While some non-military families may share some of these same attributes and experiences, military culture is unique because of a much higher incidence and concentration of these issues and experiences in military families as compared to civilian populations. And by tightly-knit military communities that perceive these experiences as normal. Military bases are often small cities in themselves, and are self-contained worlds where military culture is primary, and off-base culture is secondary. Military cultural norms and expectations, as well as the presence of MPs, armed guards, high security zones and some degree of surveillance are a normal daily occurrence. Before the movie starts at the base theater, we stand as the national anthem plays. On-base housing, shopping, dining, recreation, sports and entertainment as well as base chapels which host diverse religious services can all be found on post. Military regulations, laws and social codes of conduct are in force throughout the base which can be very different than local, state or national laws, regulations and customs. There are many words and phrases that are unique to the military world, and which make up a part of everyday conversation on bases (Ever hear my kids say Tango Yankee? aka THANK YOU). Raised in a culture that stresses LDRSHIP, Duty, Honor, Country, and being a "lady" or "gentleman" - their strict (outward) adherence to military values is what separates most from their civilian peers. Children of military personnel often mirror the values, ideals, and attitudes of their parents more than children of civilians. Constantly making new friends to replace the ones that they have lost, military kids are often more outgoing and independent. According to the largest study conducted, eighty percent claim that they can relate to anyone, regardless of differences such as race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality (a typical military school can experience up to 50% turnover every year). But our culture is not without its faults. A typical military family moves on average every 3 years yet kids never grow accustomed to moving. The constantly changing environment and openness to others has a price. Rather than develop problem-solving skills, there is a temptation to simply leave a problem without resolving it. If a person does not like somebody or gets into a fight, they know that in a few years somebody will move and the problem will disappear. Where we become very adaptable as a result of the mobile lifestyle, there is also a higher than average incidence, among a minority, of Avoidance Personality Disorder and Separation Anxiety Disorder. Military life is also strictly segregated by rank. The facilities provided for officers and enlisted personnel differ dramatically. The officers' housing will generally be more accessible to base activities, larger in size, and better landscaped and on larger bases, the officers' housing may be broken down into different categories, with senior officers receiving larger and more opulent housing. Children of enlisted personnel often believe that children of officers receive specialized treatment because non-officers are afraid to upset the officers.
The truth is simple: We spent our entire childhoods in the service of our country, and no one even knew we were there.
There you have it.
Back to my 'Lifer-juice' (coffee)
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