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The Nonprofit 501(c)(3) Educational Organization
BRATS WITHOUT BORDERS
presents...
In the United States of America, an estimated 5% of its citizens are military “brats”:
- 15 million adult military brats with at least one career parent
- 1.5 million current military brats with at least one parent serving in
the uniformed services
- 4.5 million adult brats whose parents served overseas in a capacity
other than the uniformed services
“Brats” is an historic and time-honored reference to
military children based on the acronym,
“British Regimental Attached Traveler.” Brats are every age, race, religion, and class,
but most Americans don’t even know they exist, except peripherally, as silent appendages
to their parents. Operation Military Brat hopes to change that.
Operation Military Brat is an educational outreach program sponsored by the
501(c)(3) nonprofit Brats Without Borders. Its mission is to:
- Raise the awareness of the challenges facing military brats of all ages
- Acknowledge and celebrate their existence, sacrifices, and contributions
- Improve the quality of their lives
Brats Without Borders launched Operation Military
Brat in September, 2009 in Washington DC. It includes a series of
free screenings
around the world of the award-winning film,
“BRATS: Our Journey Home,” the first
documentary about growing up military, narrated by Air Force brat Kris Kristofferson.
After some of the screenings, Writer-Director and Army brat Donna Musil hosts
town-hall meetings with the audience.
Operation Military Brat also donates
Military Brat Libraries to public libraries that serve
large populations of military brats.
This one-of-a-kind collection of books and films celebrates and explores the life
of a military child, and includes:
The Military Brat Library contains an exclusive
Military Brat Resource Binder, featuring:
- Advice and “best practices” for military brats of all ages based on current research
- Lists of famous brats
- Bibliography of brat books, films, music and articles
- Brat alumni organizations
- Organizations that represent and serve military brats
- A “living library” section for brats to add their own stories!
Military brats are members of an ancient but invisible tribe. The average brat moves
9-12 times before they graduate from high school. One or both parents can be absent
for weeks or years, depending on their deployment. Brats grow up in a paradox that is
idealistic and authoritarian, privileged and perilous, supportive and stifling – all
at the same time.
When brats leave the military environment, they frequently flounder. They feel out
of sync with the “normal” world, but don’t understand why. Operation Military Brat
helps them understand that feeling different is normal for brats. They are just
like all the other millions of brats who have supported their military parents – and
their country – throughout history.
Brats do belong – not to a place, but to each
other – and that makes all the difference in the world…
Want To Help?
Operation Military Brat would not be possible without
the support of generous
individuals and organizations. Please check out our
supporters below. If you or your organization would like to
sponsor a screening or support our
efforts, please email us.
If you're a brat
politician, artist, journalist, musician, athlete, or business
executive - we'd love for you to join us at one of our town-hall meetings. Please
email us ahead of time,
so we can let everyone know you're coming.
If you can't make it, but still want to make a difference, you can also
donate a Military Brats Library
to a public group or institution that serves large numbers of military brats. Your
name and/or institution will be imprinted on each item in the collection and a
bio/description will be included in the Military Brats Resource Binder!
To support Brats Without Borders’ efforts or find out more about Operation
Military Brat, please contact us:
Operation Military Brat
Tour Dates - 2010
Made possible in part with the generous support of
The Sprint Foundation!
All of these screenings are free to the public!
We will post times/dates/locations as soon as they're confirmed. Keep checking
the site! Cities without specific information are all tentative. We are still
searching for venues.
JANUARY 2010
Shreveport, LA (Barksdale AFB) - January 13 and 14, 2009 - both screenings
followed by town-hall meetings with filmmaker Donna Musil and Melissa Carpenter,
military brat and wife of Major General Floyd Carpenter, Commander, 8th Air Force,
Barksdale Air Force Base
Wednesday, January 13, 7:00 p.m. - Hoban Hall, Barksdale AFB
Thursday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. -
Robinson Film Center (617 Texas Street,
Shreveport, LA 71101, 318-424-9090)
MARCH 2010
Washington, DC - March 11, 2010 (afternoon) - Intercultural Management Institute (IMI)
Conference at American University - filmmaker and military child/TCK expert
Donna Musil will lead the session, "The Stranger in Your Home: Understanding TCKs
and Helping Them Thrive, Not Just Survive"
Kaiserslautern, Germany - March 20, 2010 - filmmaker Donna Musil in attendance -
Pulaski Park, as part of "The Good and the Grief: Military Brats" Carnival - for
more information, contact Dr. Becky Powell, Director of Religious Education,
USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg
Mannheim, Germany - March 21, 2010 - filmmaker Donna Musil in attendance -
Benjamin Franklin Village Chapel, as part of "The Good and the Grief: Military Brats"
Carnival - for more information, contact Dr. Becky Powell, Director of Religious Education,
USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg
Vicenza, Italy - March 25, 2010 (evening) - filmmaker Donna Musil in attendance -
USAG Vicenza Chapel - for more information, contact Dr. Grace C. Yeuell, Director
of Religious Education, USAG Vicenza
APRIL 2010
Armed Forces Network Broadcast - worldwide (except for the USA)
Exact date/time to be announced
OTHER AREAS WE'D LIKE
TO SET UP SCREENINGS
If you would like to host a screening in these or other areas, please
let us know. We can't
do it without your help!
Augusta, GA, Ft. Gordon
Honolulu, HI
Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, TX
New Orleans, LA
Gulfport/Biloxi, MS
Birmingham, AL
Memphis, Nashville, TN
Tampa, FL - McDill AFB, CENTCOM
Charleston, Columbia, SC
Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, NC
Albuquerque, NM
Riverside, Camarillo-Oxnard-Ventura, San Diego County, CA
Our Heartfelt Thanks to All the Folks Who Have Made
Operation Military Brat Possible!
Individuals
Susan Allenback
Faye Arrington
Denise Bafti
Sarah Bird
Melissa Carpenter
Steve Dickenson and Todd Clark
Jeri Glass
Glenn Greenwood
Scott Hawley
Sylvia Kidd
Christian Kyrios
George Marshall
Michael Ritter
Sunny Schwentner
Patricia Y. Stallard
Ruth E. Van Reken
Mary Edwards Wertsch
Shelly Wilson
Timothy Wurtz
Businesses & Organizations
Abilene Bed & Breakfast (Marcia Cox)
Arlington Cinema ‘n Drafthouse (Tim Clark)
AUSA (Association of the United States Army)
Barksdale Air Force Base
Brattle Theater on Harvard Square (Ned Hinkel)
Cameron University (Von Underwood)
Dorothy Bramlage Public Library
Glenwood Arts Theater (Brian Mossman)
Hirschi High School
National Liberty Museum (Kathleen Lee)
New World Stages (Jennifer Jones)
Overseas Brats (Joe Condrill)
Providence Public Library Theater (Lisa Miller)
Robinson Film Center
Rose State College Training Center (sponsored by Rose State College, Midwest City
Chamber of Commercer, Mid-Del Schools, and Tinker Federal Credit Union)
Slayton House Theater at Wilde Lake (Linda Stevens)
Southfork Hotel
The Sprint Foundation
West End Neighborhood Library (Bill Turner)
Click here to see even more
BRATS supporters!
About Brats Without Borders, Inc.
Brats Without Borders, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit
production company founded in 1999. It's mission is to create films, videos,
and literary materials for current and former military children and other
"third culture kids" from highly mobile families around the world
(most of whom spend a portion of their youth outside their country of citizenship)
that acknowledge their existence and contributions, improve the quality of their lives,
and foster the self-awareness and sense of belonging necessary to employ the
more positive aspects of their unique multi-cultural inheritance.
All donations are
tax-deductible.
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