In 1995, the "World Wide Web" was just getting started, but I realized the need for a web site which would allow Military Brats to re-connect, find alumni groups and preserve our unique heritage. I put together a few simple web pages along with links to a number of military web sites, a few alumni groups and personal Military Brats web sites.

In the Beginning . . .

I had no idea that the Internet would grow as large and as quickly as it has. In the beginning, I would get a couple of requests per month to add links to the web site and occasionally, an article, so keeping the site up to date was not really a probelm.

Needless to say, over the years Military Brats Online has grown—and evolved, as more and more Military Brats have discovered the site and requested links and announcements be added. There have been several major re-designs and reorganizations of the web site in an effort to make the site work better for visitors.

At last count there were several hundred pages of content, and managing an ever increasing number of requests has been a challenge.

A Labor of Love

Military Brats Online has been and continues to be a true "labor of love," with all costs associated with the site and time required for maintaining the site provided by me. Military Brats Online has gone through several periods where my time, work and personal issues have made it difficult to maintain the web site content properly, resulting in outdated links, announcements and other information.

I know it has been frustrating to alumni groups, web masters and others that Military Brats Online has become so outdated, and for that I am truly sorry.

A New Beginning . . .

For a number of years I have wanted to make the web site database-driven, in order to make it much easier to make updates and manage the large number of pages. However, the cost for hiring a programmer and building a custom application is cost-prohibitive.

During the last few years, a number of content management systems have become available, many off which are very inexpensive or even free. While none of these systems are a perfect solution for Military Brats Online, I have found one solution which will allow me to rebuild the web site with a database for storing and delivering content.

More Work Ahead

Now begins the task of moving page content over to the new system, which will take a few weeks. In addition to updating information and adding new content, it will be no easy task to move the content to the new site, and will most likely be done in stages.

Please believe me when I say it will definitely worth the wait.

I would like to ask that you be patient and know that I working diligently to make Military Brats Online an up-to-date and better Military Brats resource.

Feedback & Suggestions

I would love to hear from those of you who have suggestions for a better Military Brats Online. To contact me with suggestions and feedback, .

To go to the current Military Brats Online web site, click here.

The Military Brats Registry

In the past Military Brats Online and another web site, Military Brats Registry, owned by Marc Curtis, have worked together as "The Military Brats Network." Our web sites have different URLs, are hosted on different servers and are maintained separately. However, since the two sites looked similar, many visitors have contacted the wrong site webmaster with questions and complaints.

I sincerely apologize for any confusion this has caused, and know that once the "new" Military Brats Online web site is live, there should be no confusion as to which site is which.

In Closing . . .

Please bear with me during this transition period and know that I am committed to making Military Brats Online a great resource for Military Brats everywhere.

--Vann Baker