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Muzzle flash
aficionado
Picture of flashguy
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I was commissioned out of AFROTC and my service number began with "AO". When I accepted a Regular commission a couple of years later I got a 5-digit service number ending with "A". When I was RIFed for non-promotion and enlisted I had a "FR prefix to my SSAN for a while (that was a bad, and illegal, move by the services--SSAN was not supposed to be used that way).

RogueJSK, thanks for the updated information on members of Congress who were military. My bad.

flashguy




Texan by choice, not accident of birth
 
Posts: 27911 | Location: Dallas, TX | Registered: May 08, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Ice Cream Man
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I don’t mean to be offensive, but Congress is management.

America is not meant to be a martial society. It would be far better served by a Congress full of accountants, and business creators, than soldiers.

TMK, the nation was founded by businessmen, and a few professionals.
 
Posts: 6078 | Location: Republic of Ice Cream, Low Country, SC. | Registered: May 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Web Clavin Extraordinaire
Picture of Oat_Action_Man
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quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Last I heard, less than 1% of the population chooses to serve. That’s sad and disappointing.


You realize that 1% of our population is like 3.7 million people, right? Even if we just say adult population (aka military age), that's still nearly 2.6 million people.

And that our military, total, is less than about 1.4 million people.

By comparison, the population in WW2 was like 1/3rd of our current population.

I think we all quickly lose sight of just how many people there are in the US and how hard it is to maintain a sizeable military.

We have the third largest military in the world and, I dare say, the most highly trained by orders of magnitude. We also spend 3x more on the military than our nearest competitor, China--which has only about 2 million serving, despite a population of over a billion.

If we lament the size of our military, we need to either drastically decrease its quality to increase quantity or somehow increase spending.

Just trying to keep things in perspective. Yeah, you're not going to run into a bunch of people who have served because there are now WAY more people around you. Just simple probability.


----------------------------

Chuck Norris put the laughter in "manslaughter"

Educating the youth of America, one declension at a time.
 
Posts: 19837 | Location: SE PA | Registered: January 12, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Spread the Disease
Picture of flesheatingvirus
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I wasn't asserting that the military SHOULD take as many as are willing to volunteer. I would have no problem with tighter restrictions many other reasons to say, "Thanks, but no." Obviously, they wouldn't be able accommodate millions of new volunteers.

I was commenting more on the willingness of the population to volunteer for it.


________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --
 
Posts: 17849 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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44 percent of the military come from the South. Financial reasons are a big factor for many. As a rule Southerners tend to be more supportive of the military and know others that have served.
 
Posts: 17747 | Location: Stuck at home | Registered: January 02, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Official Space Nerd
Picture of Hound Dog
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quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

In 1953, about 74% of Senators and 62% of Representatives were veterans. In 1973, it was even higher at around 80% and 72%. And in 1993 it was still at 70% and 48%.


Well, military service by itself isn't the best metric to use. president johnson and john kerry both 'served.' They were mostly self-serving, of course (lbj was a senator or congressman who finagled a military rank for himself, and on a visit to the theater, got a Silver Star for being a passenger in an aircraft that turned back due to mechanical issues, and kerry went to Vietnam with his 8mm camera for the specific purpose of kick-starting his political career).

Today's military is just smaller than it used to be, so even if more people wanted to serve, there is a practical limit on the percentage of the population that can serve.



Fear God and Dread Nought
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher
 
Posts: 21989 | Location: Hobbiton, The Shire, Middle Earth | Registered: September 27, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I Am The Walrus
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I think the percentage of eligible to serve based on age, physical fitness, medical exam, criminal/background check and drug use history is only about 20% or so.

Then you figure out of that 20%, not all want to serve.

I suspect that when there is a surge to join, the Air Force and Navy will be the offices visited by recruits first. Then the Army and Marines get the leftovers.


_____________

 
Posts: 13383 | Registered: March 12, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of Ranger41
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This thread has led me to think about my family's service. My father served as did his sister and her husband. My wife's father and his three brothers served. My brother served as did my wife's two brothers. I served as did my wife's first husband. Between us we have three sons - all served.

We have six grandsons who are old enough to serve, but none have shown any interest.


"The world is too dangerous to live in-not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen." (Albert Einstein)
 
Posts: 994 | Location: Rural Virginia - USA | Registered: May 14, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I Deal In Lead
Picture of Flash-LB
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quote:
Originally posted by Edmond:
I suspect that when there is a surge to join, the Air Force and Navy will be the offices visited by recruits first. Then the Army and Marines get the leftovers.


I kind of look at it the opposite way.

The Navy and Air Force get the leftovers, the Army and Marines get the best.

During Vietnam, a lot of guys went Air Force or Navy to avoid being in the bush shooting at and being shot at by Charlie.
 
Posts: 10626 | Location: Gilbert Arizona | Registered: March 21, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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