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| Photo by Justin Ward |
Life
Of A Military Child
Growing
up Luke McColgan’s parents were forced to move every two years for their work.
Fortunately for McColgan and his family the Air Force allowed them to
experience the journey as a family.
McColgan, 20, was
born in Brighton Massachusetts. He is one of two boys, brother Zach, 25.
Together the boys were brought up on military bases by parents Joseph and Lisa
McColgan.
The
couple worked within the financial branch of the United States Air Force,
requiring them to move to military bases throughout the country as well as to
Germany.
“Growing
up with both of my parents in the military got hard at times with all the
moving around, but at the same time it was neat to see all the different areas
and how different they were,” McColgan said.
After
McColgan was born the family settled in Brighton for about six months before moving
to Montana for his mothers work.
From
that point on, his family moved to a new base every two to three years until he
was about 14. The family has been in Virginia since then.
“In
the beginning it was tough for me to get used to all the moving around, but
like anything you get used to it and it started to grow on me. It was hard to
make relationships and get close to someone knowing I was going to leave,”
McColgan said.
Growing up in a
military family can become very demanding, and tough for a kid to deal with,
always having to move from base to base, and meeting new friends over and over
again can be difficult
McColgan
has already moved six times in his life. He has gone from Brighton to Montana, from
there he went to Germany and then to Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota and he
currently resides in Virginia.
However,
McColgan was among thousands of families on these military bases, so he wasn’t
alone. The smaller bases would have nearly 4,000 families, according to
McColgan.
“You’d
be surprised about the number of families that end up on the same bases and the
familiar faces you see when moving around so much,” McColgan said.
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| Photo by Master Sgt. Ken Hammond, U.S. Air Force |
McColgan’s
parents have since received promotions and they no longer move every two years,
His
parents now both work in the Pentagon, his mother as a commander in the Air
Force and his father works for the CIA.
“I
was getting used to the moving around thing, but it has been nice living here
for the past six years, I’ve been able to get to know a lot of new people
without worrying about having to leave them,” said McColgan.
McColgan
doesn’t want to pursue a career in the military, he wants to pursue a career in
finance.
“I never minded
moving around much, I just don’t think I can do it the rest of my life. I’m
ready to slow down and build some roots somewhere, and really start my life,”
said McColgan.
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