9 years ago
1
U.S. military and civilians are increasingly divided
The U.S. military today is gradually becoming a separate warrior class, many analysts say, that is becoming increasingly distinct from the public it is charged with protecting. As the size of the military shrinks, the connections between military personnel and the broad civilian population appear to be growing more distant, the Pew Research Center concluded after a broad 2012 study of both service members and civilians.
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http://www.latimes.com
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No, they aren't. I see a lot of these hand-waving articles that decry statistics that 1/2 of a percent of the population is on active duty and then use that as a basis for how segregated from society the military is. The largest majority of our all-volunteer force does one or two enlistments, and then returns to civilian life. Here are some statistics(warning: pdf) from the VA on the number of veterans currently in the US.
A substantial minority have served, and will continue to serve and then return to civilian life, especially with the proposed retirement reforms.
Using a snapshot of those currently serving is sloppy reporting. Meaningless, at best.
Edit: spelling