Military Dependents

Not all those who sacrifice for our country are contracted members of an armed service branch. In 2022 there were “more family members (54.5%) than military personnel (45.5%),” according to the Department of Defense (DoD) Demographics Report. Military family members, officially known as “Dependents,” fall into one of four categories: Spouse, Child, and Adult.

Anyone legally married to a member of an armed service branch of the United States is considered a Dependent Spouse. Not common law marriage, not long-term committed relationships, you gotta get a soldier to put a ring on it. The DoD does not restrict marriage to heterosexual unions, BTW. Also, spouses are considered Dependents even if they earn more income than the service member.

A person does not have to be the biological offspring of a soldier to be considered a Dependent Child. The military recognizes adopted children and step-children, and any minor whose legal guardian is in an armed service branch of the United States. They remain Dependent Children until they get married or turn 21 (23 for full-time students). Children of service members are known, and often self-identify, as “Brats.” The term originated as an acronym in the United Kingdom for British Regiment Attached Traveler (BRAT). In other words, anyone authorized to be attached, i.e. travel with, a doughboy. It was adopted by American GIs and remains in use to this day.

A Dependent Adult is often a parent or sibling of a service member who (because of age or disability, for example) is unable to care for themselves and has no other legal guardian or conservator.

Dependents in the Bible

If you look closely, you’ll find plenty of military dependents in the Bible. Lydia the purple seller, for example, was probably either a child of a Roman soldier or the spouse/widow of one. There’s no way an unattached female had access to something as tightly controlled by the empire as the trade in purple dye.

Then there’s the son/child of CPT Marvel, who Jesus miraculously heals. The terminology of pais in Matthew 8 is ambiguous (it’s like “boy,” is it derogatory or biological…?), but John 4 calls the person a huios, offspring. There is also Cornelius of Acts 10 and 11, and Dez of Acts 16, whose entire families are baptized, making them Christian military dependents.

But most importantly, if God is a warrior, that makes his Son, Joshua, a military Brat. And I hear that guy’s pretty central to the good news…