May 29, 2017
Military is trending regional and 'all in the family.' We need more diversity.
As tensions rise in several regions, possibly leading to new U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and other combat operations, it’s worth pausing to truly consider who fights our wars.
Across the spectrum of military ranks and occupations, “service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do,” then-Defense secretary Robert Gates said in a speech at Duke University in 2010. He pointed to the relatively few students who would be considering military service upon graduation as symptomatic of the growing civil-military divide.
With an active-duty force comprising merely 0.4% of the U.S. population, this divide between the military and the rest of society is unsurprising. However, and despite the services’ continued efforts, two trends are making it harder to bridge the divide: increased regional and familial concentration within the armed forces.
Read the full article in USA Today.
More from CNAS
-
The Melting Fortress: The United States, Canada, and the Race Against Time in the Arctic
Commentary
For years, Moscow has prioritized the Arctic as a critical pillar of its national security, opening or refurbishing over 50 military bases and scaling up military operations a...
By Andrew Spafford & Samantha Olson
-
U.S. military must reinforce Guam's crumbling infrastructure
Commentary
In Guam, one is quickly struck by the juxtaposition of crystal-clear waters with crumbling infrastructure and abandoned cars strewn across the small Pacific island. Following ...
By Taren Sylvester & Evan Wright
-
Preparing for the Possibility of a Draft without Panic
Commentary
Conscription has never had a political constituency in Congress. It remains a serious, costly, and potentially deadly tool meant to protect Americans from the extreme conseque...
By Taren Sylvester & Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
National Security Hiring Needs an Overhaul
Podcast
The federal hiring process can be discouraging for all parties. Applicants often struggle with the black hole and long delays. Hiring managers have to deal with a host of regu...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
