Imagine being told that in just a few weeks, both yourself and family are moving. Not for the first time either. It happens whenever least expected. While this may not be completely unheard of, here’s the catch: it wasn’t your family’s decision.

Junior Jose and freshman Ariana Pagan have not one, but two parents enlisted in the military, and this type of information is nothing new to them.

Both parents are currently at home working in human resources, where they focus on the career management of full-timers in the reserve. This wasn’t always the case. In 1990, both parents were stationed in the Gulf War, where they met. Jose and Ariana weren’t born yet, but their sisters, Nikki, Ivy, and Imani, had to stay elsewhere during that time.

The family has been moved to multiple places, including Puerto Rico, Michigan, and Illinois. They moved here to St. Louis about three years ago.

“When they’re little, it’s easier to move around,” mother Diane Pagan said. “When they’re older, it becomes a hardship.”

Years ago, when the family moved to Michigan, Imani was forced to change schools during her junior year. Something similar will be happening to Ariana in 2010. During this year, the agency here is moving to Fort Knox Kentucky, the Pagan family included.

“She’s moving in the middle of high school, so she will have to make all new friends and everything,” Jose Jr.. said. “It will be hard on her.”

The military isn’t all about changing cities and switching schools though.

“The best part is that you meet all types of different people, and you get to travel a lot,” father Jose Pagan Sr. said.

Just a few weeks ago, Diane was sent to Hawaii to escort the remains of soldiers from World War II. One week trips like these are usually the longest that either parent has to leave.

As a military family, both parents and kids have learned to live up to certain conditions
that most haven’t.

“We have a strict lifestyle because we’re always expected to act professionally and not goof around a lot,” Jose Jr. said.

In the off chance that both parents would be sent into a war, the family is required to have a plan for their children. The Pagans plan to have older sister Imani stay withher siblings until their grandmother can be flown down from Puerto Rico to live with them.

“As a soldier, you do what you are told,” Jose Sr. said. “I would go [to war], but would probably not be very happy about it.”

When one parent is sent away into the war, often the spouse will join a “family readiness group.” Through these, the members make care packages for the troops. While these readiness groups are helpful, the family hopes that this will not happen to them.

“If my mom was gone, my dad would take us to McDonald’s all of the time,” Jose Jr. said. “If my dad was gone, my mom would be a lot stricter.”

Both parents try their hardest to make sure their children don’t get the wrong idea of what the job entitles.

“The media only shows the bad things and [if we were gone] it would probably scare my children on a daily basis,” Diane said. “We’re the reliable source for our children, not the media.”

They encourage their children, and others, to understand what they believe to be the truth about the military.

“What our soldiers are doing is not shooting at people, but they are building schools and developing structures for other countries,” Jose Sr. said. “People aren’t happy because our money is being spent building structures for other countries, but as Americans, that’s what we’re about.”

After knowing what he knows about military life, Jose Jr. still hopes to join the service after completing his college degree.

“I hope that if my children join, they are in for a bit before a war breaks out,” Jose Sr. said. “We have a great army and we train our soldiers well.”

Jose Sr. plans to stay in the military until his son graduates high school, for he has already reached the highest enlisted rank. Diane is one rank beneath and plans to stay for five years longer.
Through all of this, the family stays optimistic. They are happy to be living where the are, with the lives that they have.

“I am a soldier, but as a citizen, I’m so glad that we have people who do what they do,” Jose Sr. said. “That way the rest of the Americans can enjoy our freedom. I encourage everyone to pray for their troops and their families.”