To say King’s Fork High School senior Caleb Parsons carries more responsibilities than the average teenager is a probably an understatement.

With his military parents serving overseas or in another state, Parsons has assumed power of attorney for his three younger siblings.

One sibling, 16-year-old Isaac, is a sophomore at King’s Fork High. Nathan, 13, attends John F. Kennedy Middle School. Little sister, 9-year-old Kyleah, goes to Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School.

While many teens would cringe at the cooking, cleaning and homework supervision, Parsons, recently named a 2015 Military Child of the Year by Operation Homefront, takes it all in his stride.

“I’m basically a single dad right now,” he said.

Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that provides emergency assistance to military families, bestows the nationwide, annual award on one military child each from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and — new for 2015 — the National Guard.

Parsons, the Coast Guard recipient, said his dad’s boss in Florida — where his father has been based since last summer — nominated him for the honor.

Parsons’ Air Force reservist mother has been stationed in the Middle East since the beginning of the year. Prior to that, she was in Delaware for about three months, training at Dover Air Force Base.

Caleb Parsons said he was selected as a finalist based on his interview as a semi-finalist. He said he was “in shock” when he recently learned he was the overall winner.

“They called me by phone, and said, ‘Do you want to put me on speaker?’” he said. “I said, ‘OK.’ They told me I had won. I was in shock, but I was also excited.”

Parsons will be flown to Washington for a ceremony on April 16. He will receive $10,000, a laptop and other donated gifts.

“I’ll put it in savings until I figure out a good use for it,” Parsons said of the cash.

Parsons added of his reaction, “My first thought was, out of all the other finalists, I was selected. I thought it was such a great honor. Then I read the other profiles, and I thought, ‘They’ve also got great stories — what an honor to be considered in that company.’”

While keeping the home fires burning, Parsons has also kept up his various leadership roles, including with the Boy Scouts, as a senior patrol leader (he’s also an Eagle Scout), and the Air Force JROTC, where he has reached the highest rank possible, earned the Daedalians award and was thrice named Outstanding Cadet.

Parsons is on the swim and cross-country teams at King’s Fork High School, where he won the Co-Captain Varsity Award, Junior Varsity Award and Sportsmanship Award.

He also found time for a weeklong mission trip to Belize with the Open Door Church Youth Group.

Parsons said his family has lived in Suffolk for about 13 years. His parents met when they were stationed in Nebraska together with the Air Force, he said. Then his father left the military to be a stay-at-home dad, while his mom stayed in.

Next, Parsons’ mom also left the military, he said, and the family moved to Wyoming, where her family is from. His dad became a police officer there.

“After about three years, Dad decided he wanted to get back into the military,” Caleb Parsons said, and that brought them to Virginia with the Coast Guard.

His mother also decided she wanted back in, joining the Air Force Reserve.

Parsons said his parents took care of most of the legal for power of attorney over his younger siblings. “They just told me where to sign,” he said.

“I think it was harder for my mom than my dad, just because she was concerned how well I would be able to handle it. She really wanted to get the grandparents involved.”

Parsons said both grandmothers each spent two or three weeks helping him out.

Family friends regularly come over, he said, adding, “One couple will cook a meal for us every Friday, and another couple will be in the house with us Mondays and Wednesdays, just to keep order and keep the house clean. It can get a little messy.”

Parsons said he likes to cook soups and stews, while Isaac is the master griller.

Their dad arrives home on Saturday, Parsons said, and can stay until their mom arrives home from the Middle East.

When his singe-dad status officially ends, Parsons will report to the United States Military Academy at West Point for four years of Army officer training.

“My family has a long military history,” he said. “The military lifestyle just comes naturally to me.”