In her short life so far, 10-year-old Milan C. Ellis has already moved six times. And she wrote about her new experiences in her debut children’s book, “The Adventures of a Military Kid.”
The daughter of the commander of Rock Island Arsenal’s Joint Munitions Command, Milan has penned an uplifting story about courage, friendship, and finding home in every new place, a reality lived by thousands of military children across the world. She and her family have been in the Quad Cities since August, and she’s been inspired by the moves, transitions, and new beginnings that come with being part of a military household.
Milan’s dad, a 44-year-old native of Jamaica, is Paul “PJ” Ellis, command sergeant major of the Joint Munitions Command, and they live with her mom (a clinical social worker) and younger brother on the Arsenal.
“I wanted other kids to know they’re not alone,” Milan said. “Moving can be scary, but it can also be exciting. I wanted to write a story that helps kids feel brave.”
She is a proud military kid with a big imagination, a huge smile, and a suitcase that’s always half-packed. She wrote “The Adventures of a Military Kid” to help kids like her laugh a little louder, feel seen, and find strength in every move.
When she’s not writing, Milan enjoys reading, dancing, singing along with her mom, riding her hoverboard with her little brother Zaid, and hanging out with her dad at coffee shops while they both read a good book.
Her father – who has served in the U.S. Army 26 years -- says the 99-page self-published book (which he helped Milan compile) reflects the resilience he sees in military children every day. “Milan poured her heart into this story,” he said. “Her voice reminds us that our children carry strength and courage right alongside us. I’m incredibly proud of her.”
In Virginia, the two years before they moved here, her mother home-schooled her and her brother. Now, Milan is in fifth grade at Riverdale Heights Elementary in Bettendorf.
Her dad self-published his own book of poetry in 2023. In Jamaica, PJ developed a love for words and often expressed everyday life in poetry. PJ uses his love for words to escape life’s most challenging moments or to capture the beauty and simplicity of life. He finds solace in writing poetry with the hopes of using words to impact the lives of others.
Believing in the power of words
Ellis considers himself a leader and lifelong learner who believes in the power of words to connect hearts across every distance. He and Milan started working on her book in February 2025 and it was done by July, and published in October.
She wanted to write the message, in a fun way, that “sometimes military kids struggle making friends, but also that, like, it's good to be a military kid and it's exciting with all the ups and downs and boxes,” Milan said, noting she likes seeing different cities and parts of the country. “The best thing is that, you get to see new places often and like tasty food and other new stuff. It's just really interesting.”
Her book focuses on Zola, a 7th grader, and the 14 chapters are each organized around a theme, and PJ would give her questions for each chapter to spark ideas.
“The first chapter is boot camp and the boot camp for a new recruit is you're trying to understand what is going on and the environment that you're in and the people that you're meeting,” PJ said. “I remember asking her questions, about going to a new environment, how you feel when you go to that new environment, and then think about, how do you feel meeting new people in those environments? And then so based on those questions, she was able to sit down and think about, and it helped spark her creative writing style. And she kind of would write from there.”
“The last place we lived in, I had friends, and I kind of don't like talking to new people. At the same time, I know I have to make new friends,” Milan said.
PJ enjoyed visiting her school in uniform around Veterans Day, with a couple other military colleagues.
“When I think about service and purpose, in events, times like that, it does resonate with you, why you're doing the things that you are,” he said. “And so that was very great at the school to do that.”
A life of nomadic military service
Ellis moved from Jamaica to New York City with his family at 17, and joined the Army at 18, after his older brother served in the Navy 10 years.
He’s been stationed at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, Ft. Eustis in Virginia, four years in Vicenza. Italy, Ft. Bliss in Texas, Ft. Carson in Colorado, and from Ft. Eustis to Ft. Lee in Virgina, before moving to Rock Island Arsenal this past September, in his first post with JMC, which has its headquarters here with about 500 employees. Ellis has been a sergeant major since 2017.
“Every one of those opportunities have given me an opportunity to grow and understand the Army, to serve the organization and posture the Army to win and build readiness,” PJ said. “Being in the military has provided me lots of opportunities for travel, seeing the different things, the training I've received, the opportunity to pursue an education.”
Ellis met his wife, Iona, online and they married in 2014. Milan was born in August 2015, named after the Italian city they loved (a different Milan, pronounced “MY-lin,” is a bordering town to Rock Island). They recently celebrated their 10th anniversary on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.
In September 2025, Christopher Reaves relinquished his responsibilities as the command sergeant major of the Joint Munitions Command (JMC) to Ellis during a change of responsibility ceremony at the Rock Island Arsenal.
Called “the backbone of our nation’s warfighting capability,” JMC ensures our troops have the munitions they need to dominate any battlefield. Headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, JMC has more than 13,000 personnel worldwide, and is the latest in a series of commands since World War II that have managed the nation's ammunition plants. Last year, JMC successfully managed a safe and reliable ammunition stockpile valued at $67 billion and produced 700 million rounds of ammunition.
Ellis enlisted in the Army in August 1999 and has served in tugboat operations, airborne units, movement control teams, and elite special operations forces. Before joining JMC, he served as the G-3/5/7 Sergeant Major, Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia. Ellis has an associate of arts in general studies and a bachelor’s in liberal arts from Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, and a master’s degree in management and leadership from Webster University, St. Louis, Mo.
He plans to retire from the Army in four years and take the family to spend a summer in Italy. Milan has a seven-year-old brother, Zaid, and since she was born, their family has moved six times, and this is the fifth different state she’s lived in.
In Ft. Lee, and the Arsenal, they have lived in single-family homes on each military base (their Arsenal house was built in 1907).
From “Wimpy” to Winner
Milan is a big fan of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books and Emily Winsnap series, and one day her dad suggested she try writing one.
“And I was like, no, I don't think I could do it. And then we thought of ideas for it, and then I started,” she said. “I just like the stories and the characters and what problems they face, how they get out of it.”
Milan said she related to Emily, because they both feel like outcasts.
“I relate to her because I always thought I kind of didn't fit in. Then I found my strengths,” she said. Milan said the hardest thing about moving so much is leaving friends and having to make new ones, and learn a new area.
Milan said she was very excited to see her completed book for the first time, though the cover illustration (done by a freelance artist) is a much younger generic version of herself.
She is already working on her second book, about moving, making new friends and defeating bullies. A tentative title is “Adventures of a Military Kid: New Base, New Friends.” In the new book, her main character will be in 8th grade and graduate from middle school.
“The Adventures of a Military Kid” ($10.99) is now available on Amazon HERE.
This story was produced by WVIK, Quad Cities NPR. We rely on financial support from our listeners and readers to provide coverage of the issues that matter to the Quad Cities region and beyond. As someone who values the content created by WVIK's news department, please consider making a financial contribution to support our work.
