Who Serves in the U.S. Military? The Demographics of Enlisted Troops and Officers

Thanks for presenting this. Very interesting.

No matter the race or socio-economic bacground, all our troops deserve praise

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It warms my heart to see my home state of Montana number one in enlisted to population.
I went in in 73, with a lottery number in the three hundreds(class of '72). I did it to get out of a town where the only way you got on the BN was to have relatives already there. And I wanted to see the world and I got that part in spades!

Why are there proportionately more Southerners in our military? As a Tarheel, I would suggest that it is because of good, old-fashioned local values like chivalry, religion, ancestor worship, and militarism. What do others think? [Note: My middle-class family has been in the South since the mid-1700s and has had at least one military man per generation--looking back, I deeply regret that I was not one of them.]

The heritage foundation is arguing about strawmen. The criticism isn't that the troops suck, it is that the military takes advantage of those with less opportunities in life.

By mixing together the stats for officers and enlisted soldiers, they completely skew their analysis. Commissioned officers, pretty much by definition, have lots of career options. After all a 4-year degree is a basic requirement for the job.

When you take the officers out of mix, the picture isn't quite so rosy any more - only one third the national average for 4-year degrees. (5% vs 15%)

While the military is generally not an option for those with the absolute least opportunities in life - gang members, etc - due to recruit restrictions, that still leaves a very large group of less privileged people that frequently have to chose between significant poverty or risking their lives.

As an egalitarian, I don't think having to make such a choice is fair. As an American, I'm disappointed that my country's economic system can't do better - I believe that military service should be a choice based on patriotism, not one of getting enough food to eat.

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