An Ephemeral Experience of Place: Growing Up In The Army

Abstract

Dependents of U.S. Army military personnel struggle with place perception and connection. These individuals lead nomadic lives relocating every two to three years. The majority of the literature on sense of place stresses the concept of rootedness. Here I focus on how geographic mobility alters place identity for individuals who grew up within the Army. Using open-ended interviews, I talked with twenty such dependents, exploring their views on the concept of home and how mobility has affected them. Major findings include: ways in which career-focused movement lessens place attachment, a sense of place Army people find in the concept of mobility itself, and the intentional process of place creation on military bases. My study expands knowledge of how sense of place operates. Mobility, after all, is rapidly increasing for nearly everybody in today's world.