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What Is the Military Child World Expo
Across the country and around the world, there are organizations, schools, installations, nonprofits, and community networks working every day to support military-connected children and families. Their contributions are vital, they are the heartbeat of care, resilience, creativity, and belonging.
Military-connected children grow up navigating frequent moves, changing schools, separations, and responsibilities that few of their peers experience. While many organizations support service members, veterans, and families, military-connected children have long expressed the need for a visible, recognized place of identity, belonging, and continuity.
The Military Child World Expo exists to help establish and affirm Arlington as the Home of the Military Child, a place where military-connected children are not an afterthought, but the focus.
Just as Nashville is known as the home of country music, and Hollywood as the home of film, the Expo advances a national identity for military-connected children, past, present, and future. It provides a shared civic and cultural space where:
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Children are recognized for their resilience and contributions
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Families find community and connection
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Youth voices are elevated and celebrated
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A living legacy of military-connected childhood is preserved
The Expo is not a single event, it is part of a broader effort to ensure that military-connected children have a home of recognition, belonging, and continuity, regardless of where life and service take them.
America’s 250th Anniversary and the Next Generation
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the Military Child World Expo recognizes that military-connected children are not only witnesses to history, they are torchbearers of America’s future.
For generations, military children have grown up alongside moments of national service, conflict, sacrifice, and transition. The Expo aligns with America’s 250th milestone by centering the voices, creativity, and leadership of young people who will carry the nation forward.
Through education, innovation, the arts, and civic engagement, the Military Child World Expo highlights how military-connected youth contribute to the nation’s strength, not only through their parents’ service, but through their own resilience, adaptability, and leadership.
The Expo’s theme, America’s Torchbearers of the Future, reflects this moment: honoring legacy while empowering the next generation.
Host Organization
The Military Child World Expo is hosted by the Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF), a nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing recognition, belonging, and opportunity for military-connected children and youth.
MCWEF convenes community partners, educators, youth leaders, nonprofits, and institutions to support military-connected children through programming, awareness, and national collaboration. The Foundation serves as a steward of the Expo and related initiatives that extend beyond a single event.
Learn more about the Foundation’s mission and year-round work at
www.mcwef.org
In Its Formative Stages
In its formative stages, the Military Child World Expo was incubated through early community convenings led by the Military Children’s Six Foundation (MC6). These initial efforts helped surface a shared need for greater visibility, connection, and recognition for military-connected children across communities.
As the vision expanded beyond a single organization or moment, the Expo evolved into a broader, collaborative platform, leading to the establishment of the Military Child World Expo Foundation (MCWEF) as the dedicated steward of the event and its related initiatives.
Our Journey
The Military Child World Expo emerged from listening, listening to military-connected children, families, educators, and community leaders who consistently voiced the same message: military-connected children needed a place of their own.
What began as localized conversations grew into a shared national vision, one centered on belonging, identity, and continuity. Over time, the Expo expanded to include education and STEAM experiences, youth leadership, the arts, caregiver recognition, and community collaboration, reflecting the full lives and contributions of military-connected children.
Today, the Military Child World Expo stands as an annual gathering and a growing national platform, one that honors the past, responds to present needs, and invests in the future of military-connected youth.
Why It Matters
As America marks its 250th Anniversary, The Military Child World Expo 2026 ensures that the voices, talents, and sacrifices of the Military Child and Military Children are honored on a national stage and remembered as part of America’s broader story of resilience and service.