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Title: Who Serves in the U.S. Military? Demographic Characteristics of Enlisted Troops and Officers

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2008

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Abstract: Who serves in the active-duty ranks of the U.S. all-volunteer military? Conventional wisdom holds that military service disproportionately attracts minorities and men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many believe that troops enlist because they have few options, not because they want to serve their country. Others believe that the war in Iraq has forced the military to lower its recruiting standards. Previous Heritage Foundation studies that examined the backgrounds of enlisted personnel refute this interpretation.1 This report expands on those studies by using an improved methodology to study the demographic characteristics of newly commissioned officers and personnel who enlisted in 2006 and 2007. Any discussion of troop quality must take place in context. A soldier’s demographic characteristics are of little importance in the military, which . . .

Url: https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/who-serves-the-us-military-the-demographics-enlisted-troops-and-officers

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Authors: Watkins, Shanea, J; Serk, James

Publisher: Heritage

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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