NATIONAL MILITARY BRAT HERITAGE WEEK™
A Lifetime of Belonging.
One Week.
About National Military Brat Heritage Week™
One Community.
One Celebration.
One Shared Legacy.
Every year, military brats from around the world come together to celebrate the experiences, friendships, resilience, and lifelong identity that unite generations of military-connected children and adults.
Welcome
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ is the premier annual celebration dedicated exclusively to military brats and the communities that have shaped their lives.
Created by Brat Corps®, Heritage Week serves as the nation's official gathering for preserving military brat history, celebrating community achievements, strengthening lifelong relationships, and inspiring future generations.
While military brats have long gathered informally through reunions, social media groups, and military installations, Heritage Week establishes a permanent annual tradition that brings together military brats of every age, branch, service era, and life experience.
It is more than an event.
It is our annual homecoming
Our Purpose
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ exists to celebrate the extraordinary lives of military brats while strengthening the institutions that preserve our shared history and serve future generations.
The week provides opportunities to:
Celebrate military brat identity
Preserve our shared heritage
Recognize exceptional achievement
Strengthen lifelong belonging
Connect generations of military brats
Inspire leadership and innovation
Support military brat entrepreneurs and organizations
Build national awareness of the military brat experience
Heritage Week reflects Brat Corps®' belief that military brat identity is not confined to childhood, t is a lifelong journey deserving of recognition, preservation, and celebration.
Why Heritage Week Was Created
For generations, military brats have shared a unique way of life.
We grew up moving between duty stations, attending schools across states and countries, embracing different cultures, and forming friendships that often lasted only a few years before another PCS move.
Despite those experiences, there was never a single national celebration created exclusively for our community.
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ was established to change that.
It creates a permanent place on the national calendar where military brats are recognized, honored, celebrated, and connected through one shared experience.
Who Heritage Week Serves
Military brat identity evolves over time, but the sense of belonging remains constant.
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ welcomes every generation, including:
Little Brats
Children growing up in military families who are discovering what it means to belong to the military brat community.
Junior Brats
Young people navigating school transitions, deployments, friendships, and personal growth.
Adult Military Brats
Adults reconnecting with lifelong friendships, preserving family history, and strengthening community.
Military Brats in Uniform
Former military brats who now serve in the Armed Forces, National Guard, Reserve Components, Coast Guard, or allied military services.
Veteran Military Brats
Adults whose parents completed military service but whose identity as military brats continues.
Heritage Military Brats
Older generations preserving the stories, traditions, and experiences that shaped military brat history.
Heritage Week also welcomes military families, educators, veterans, researchers, government leaders, nonprofit organizations, military support organizations, corporate partners, and friends who support the military brat community.
Who Heritage Week Is For
Heritage Week welcomes everyone connected to the military brat experience, including:
Military Brats
From childhood through older adulthood.
Active-Duty Military Families
Parents and children currently serving in military communities to include adopted children.
Veteran Military Families
Families whose military journey continues beyond active service.
Gold Star Families
Honoring families whose sacrifices are part of our shared history.
Military Spouses
Recognizing the essential role spouses play in supporting military-connected families.
Educators
Teachers, counselors, administrators, and school leaders serving military-connected students.
Researchers & Historians
Individuals advancing understanding of military brat life and military-connected communities.
Community Partners
Nonprofits, corporations, universities, government agencies, and organizations committed to serving military families.
What Makes Heritage Week Different?
Unlike traditional conferences or festivals, Heritage Week combines celebration, education, leadership, history, culture, innovation, and community into one comprehensive experience.
Throughout the week, attendees can participate in:
National ceremonies
Educational symposiums
Hall of Fame inductions
Family reunions
Leadership development
Cultural celebrations
Business networking
Community service
Arts and entertainment
Heritage preservation initiatives
Every activity supports one larger purpose:
Building lifelong belonging.
Our Vision
We envision National Military Brat Heritage Week™ becoming the world's largest annual gathering dedicated to military brats.
Each year, Heritage Week will bring together military brats from across the United States and around the world to celebrate our collective story while advancing education, leadership, research, entrepreneurship, arts, culture, and community development.
As the celebration grows, Heritage Week will become a destination that future generations look forward to attending—not simply as an event, but as a tradition.
Our Guiding Principles
Every decision made during Heritage Week is guided by five core principles.
Belonging
Every military brat deserves a place where they are welcomed, understood, and valued.
Heritage
Our shared history deserves to be preserved for future generations.
Leadership
Military brats have always led through resilience, adaptability, and service.
Innovation
The experiences of military brats uniquely prepare them to solve tomorrow's challenges.
Community
Relationships built through military life should never end simply because military service has concluded.
The Heritage Week Experience
Throughout the week, attendees will experience a vibrant schedule of events that celebrate every dimension of military brat life.
Highlights include:
Opening Ceremony
Military Brat National Convention™
Military Brat Hall of Fame™
Heritage Symposium
Family Reunion Weekend
Heritage Marketplace
Film Festival
Book Festival
Arts & Culture Festival
Innovation Showcase
Youth Leadership Programs
Closing Celebration
Each experience is designed to educate, inspire, reconnect, and strengthen our community.
Part of Something Bigger
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ is one of the signature public initiatives of Brat Corps®.
It also serves as the annual gathering of the broader Brat Corps® Institutional Network, including:
National Military Brat Heritage Center™
National Military Brat Museum™
Military Brat Hall of Fame™
National Military Brat Heritage Campus™
Brat Corps® Foundation
Brat Corps® Community Development Corporation
National Military Brat Heritage Center Institutes
Together, these institutions preserve our past while building opportunities for future generations.
A Global Community
Military brat experiences extend far beyond the United States.
Military families have lived, served, and built communities across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Australia, and countless duty stations around the world.
Heritage Week celebrates this global legacy by welcoming military brats from every nation, every service branch, every generation, and every chapter of military life.
Whether your memories were made at Fort Liberty, Ramstein Air Base, Camp Humphreys, Yokosuka, Vicenza, Okinawa, Norfolk, or countless other locations around the world, your experiences are part of our collective story.
Looking Toward the Future
National Military Brat Heritage Week™ represents more than a celebration of where we have been.
It represents our commitment to where we are going.
Each year, Heritage Week will strengthen partnerships, expand educational opportunities, inspire new leaders, preserve additional stories, recognize new achievements, and continue building institutions that ensure military brat identity remains visible and valued for generations to come.
As the Brat Corps® Institutional Network™ grows, Heritage Week will remain its annual gathering—a place where every initiative, every organization, and every military brat come together.
Our Invitation
If you have ever called yourself a military brat...
If you have ever packed boxes for another PCS move...
If you have ever said goodbye to friends knowing you might never see them again...
If you have ever found family in people who understood military life without explanation...
Then Heritage Week was created for you.
Come celebrate your story.
Come reconnect with your community.
Come help preserve our history.
Come build our future.
Welcome Home.