Month of the Military Child

By Lilly Wellons
March 30, 2026

For many military children, constant moves and new schools define their upbringing. For Lily Cornett, her experience looked different but it shaped her just as profoundly.

Cornett, a third-year neuroscience major at UCLA, currently serves as the Command Master Chief within the Naval ROTC unit, a leadership position responsible for maintaining standards across the battalion. Her role focuses on ensuring accountability and professionalism among other cadets.

Both of her parents served. Her mother spent 26 years in the Navy, retiring as an O-6, while her father began his career as an enlisted Marine before becoming a Navy nurse and later joining the Army Reserves as a major. Despite that deep military background, Cornett’s childhood did not always feel particularly “military.”

“I didn’t really know what my mom did,” she said, laughing a little at the memory. “I didn’t know how cool she was until very recently.”

Her mother kept a strong separation between work and home life. Unlike some military households where rank and structure extend into daily routines, Cornett’s family life felt grounded and ordinary. She recalls that while some of her friends experienced strict, military-style discipline at home, her own household was different. What stood out most wasn’t rigidity, but that her mother consistently showed up for important moments.

Some of Cornett’s earliest memories capture those moments vividly. She remembers her mother attending preschool graduations in uniform, showing up proudly in her Navy whites.

“It means so much more to me now seeing those O-6 shoulder boards and her still being able to show up for those moments with young kids,” Cornett said.

Cornett’s military experience began in Tennessee, where she was adopted as an infant. Soon after, her family moved to Hawaii, where she spent much of her early childhood. Those years would shape her sense of identity in ways she didn’t fully understand until later.

She lived in Hawaii from ages two to seven, a time she now recognizes as being critical for her personal development. As an adopted child whose parents and sister don’t physically resemble her, Hawaii provided her an important sense of belonging.

When her mother retired from the Navy, the family made a major transition to move from Hawaii to Colorado, to be closer to extended family. For seven-year-old Cornett, the change felt sudden and confusing.

“I was used to running around in shorts with no shoes,” she said with a smile. “Then suddenly I had to wear pants and socks. I had a huge aversion to socks.”

More significantly, the move disrupted the tight-knit community she had known. In Hawaii, she recalls a deeply communal way of life where neighbors looked out for one another and children moved freely between homes. Colorado felt different. People moved through their lives more independently, and the sense of shared community she had grown accustomed to was harder to find. Still, the experience shaped her perspective on family and time.

While many military children grow up moving frequently between bases, Cornett’s family settled in Colorado after her mother retired. But the influence of military life still lingered. In fact, even without official orders moving them around, her parents’ habits reflected years of service, they moved houses six times within the state, a pattern Cornett attributes to their difficulty staying in one place for too long.

That upbringing helped shape her adaptability. She says it made her more resilient in the face of change, though she admits she still struggles with transitions that don’t immediately make sense to her. Her awareness of uncertainty, adaptation, and learning to embrace change, would later play a role in her own decision to join the military.

When applying to colleges, Cornett was primarily focused on leaving Colorado and finding an affordable out-of-state option. It was her mother who suggested ROTC. At the time, Cornett admits she committed without fully understanding what she was signing up for, describing the decision as something she went into “a little too blind.” But looking back, she believes that leap of faith was part of what made the decision work.

“If I know too much beforehand, I can psych myself out,” she said. “Sometimes it’s better to just go for it and treat it like an adventure.”

Adventure was something her mother always encouraged.

“She always told me: you’re going to travel, you’re going to explore, and you’re going to be independent,” Cornett said.

Coming from a deeply Navy-rooted family, her eventual branch choice felt natural. With five of her mother’s seven siblings also serving in the Navy, along with many of their spouses, military service was a strong family tradition.

Now serving as Command Master Chief within UCLA’s Naval ROTC battalion, Cornett helps lead and mentor other midshipmen while preparing for her own commission.Though she’s still deciding which career path she’ll pursue, she’s certain about one thing: the military will offer opportunities few other careers can.

“You’re going places you never thought you’d go,” she said. “Not just mission-wise, but literally around the world.”

Cornett admits she didn’t grow up celebrating the Month of the Military Child, and she didn’t even know about it until she was nearly an adult.But reflecting now, she recognizes how deeply her upbringing shaped her values. She describes having a deep appreciation for her family and the sacrifices they made, particularly how they balanced demanding military careers with raising their children.

For Cornett, being a military child isn’t defined solely by how many times someone moves or how many bases they live on. Instead, it’s about the lessons learned of resilience, adaptability, independence, and appreciation for time with loved ones. Those lessons are what ultimately guided her to choose a similar path.