COMMENTARY>>Advantages outweigh disadvantages for military children

By Senior Airman Sasha
A. Navarro-Schmidt
Det. 12, Air Force News Agency

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNEWS) — There are many sacrifices children have to make for the sake of their military parents. They move every time their parents do. They leave schools in the middle of a term and enter new schools, having to make new friends everywhere they go. Some might say the life of the military child can be hard, but one could also argue that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Just ask high school junior Chris Tobierre. He’s a co-captain of the Edgren High School boy’s soccer team, and he’s enjoyed the last six years of his life living overseas in Japan.

“I came here when I was 11 years old, now I’m 17, so those six years have been the best of my life ... and in Japan, I’ve traveled to Korea for (the) Far East (tournament), and I’ve traveled to Guam for Far East.”

Far East is a tournament that comprises high school sports teams from all over the Pacific Theater. Tobierre traveled to Korea last year for Far East, and is looking forward to competing this year with his team at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.
“The experience, you can’t beat it,” he says, “because you meet new people, and they’re different...and it’s cheap to travel to different bases.”

So even though being a military child can be tough, only a handful of American children can say they’ve been to places like Germany, Japan and Korea, and it’s all thanks to the military. While it’s difficult to leave friends behind at old duty stations, military children can be comforted by the fact that no matter where they go, they can enjoy many of the same activities they left behind at their last base. Sometimes, the activities they can do increase with where they go.

April is the Month of the Military Child. It’s a time to remember the important role children play in the military family, and the sacrifices they make for their military parents.