Pew Research On The Military/Civilian Gap

Pew just recently released a poll in which they conducted a survey of veterans and civilians in an attempt to gauge not only the attitudes of the veterans towards their service in what they are dubbing the 9/11 era but also civilians for the same period. While I am still digesting some of the findings there were some key points that did stand out for me.

The first is this one. Only about one half of one percent of the U.S. population has been on active military duty at any given time during the past decade of sustained warfare. Next was this, half of the public say the wars have made little difference in their lives.

The veterans seem to be evenly split as to whether fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were worth it with half supporting the efforts in Afghanistan and about 44% supporting the war in Iraq.

When it comes to politics it seems another stereotype gets debunked with 36% identifying as Republicans, 35% Independents and 21% as Democrats. While the gap between Republicans and Democrats is big it is not as big as most assume. According to Pew the corresponding civilian numbers are 23% Republican, 35% Independent and 34% Democrat which shows a flip between veterans and civilians but also causes me to question their statistical breakdown. Maybe a breakdown of the Independents as to whether they lean Republican or Democrat would have been helpful, not because I question the numbers for veterans but I do for the civilians, but to be fair if I question one side of the equation I do need to question the other side.

Ready for some more preconceptions to take a hit?

What has it meant to serve in the military during the post-9/11 era? Compared with their predecessors of a generation or two ago, those who serve in the modern military are fewer, older, better educated and more likely to be married. A greater share is women and minorities.

All through the report there is evidence of the differences in opinions and attitudes between those who served and those who didn't.

Modern-era veterans would make good military recruiters. Some 82% say they would advise a young person close to them to enlist in the military; 74% of pre-9/11 veterans say the same. The general public is much more ambivalent. Despite their great admiration for the troops, just 48% of members of the public say they would advise a young person to join the military; 41% say they would not.

Anyway for all the veterans out there the report is worth a look, it is pretty extensive, and for civilians you might find some enlightening information in the report also. The report covers a range of topics from reintegration to civilian life, PTSD and a whole host of other topics so everybody should find something in it that will spark their interest.

I did not participate in this survey nor was I contacted, just to get that full disclosure thing out of the way.

Don't Piss On My Boots and Tell Me It's Raining

Seems like it was just yesterday that Barry O was taking to the airwaves and threatening to veto a stop gap budget measure proposed by the Republicans in the House of Representatives which would have funded the military for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 but included cuts to other programs near and dear to the dear leaders' heart. His threat of a veto along with the cowardly Democrat controlled senate led by Cowboy Poetry Harry Reid is what led to all the drama last week over a possible government shut down.

Well now this week the Obama clan is on an all out charm offensive to show the military how much they love them and care about them and how Michelle wants to be their mommy.

This is pretty disgusting and if they think the military families are going to be swayed by their efforts to place them into another one of their liberal victim classes they got another think coming.

I don't think there is anybody serving in our armed forces who for one second believe that any Democrat, much less the Obama's care one bit about them. With the official announcement of his reelection bid he has gone into full campaign mode. I wonder if Michelle will remember to leave her $2,000 dollar shoes and hand bags at home when she makes her appearances?

With Obambi being compared more and more often to that peanut farmer from the south let's hope his reelection bid follows the same pattern.

So, You Think Your Kid Is Special?

Here is a news flash for all you academic elites who constantly disparage the military and all others who hold on to bad opinions of those who enter the military. Your honor student, college-bound kid is pretty stupid! And probably fat to boot.

Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the military fail its entrance exam, painting a grim picture of an education system that produces graduates who can't answer basic math, science and reading questions. The report by The Education Trust found that 23 percent of recent high school graduates don't get the minimum score needed on the enlistment test to join any branch of the military. The study, released exclusively to The Associated Press on Tuesday, comes on top of Pentagon data that shows 75 percent of those aged 17 to 24 don't qualify for the military because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record or didn't graduate high school.

A lot of these kids will, however, enroll in college. The only requirement there is an ability to pay the tuition.

For those that are serving and have served, you now are getting a better idea of just what an elite group of people you belong to. I know from days on recruiting duty for the Army in the early 90's just how few people qualified for entrance into the Army.

All you that still think the military is some sort option of last resort, maybe it is time to look at yourself and figure out why it is you couldn't have been a member of this select group. The winners in life, it seems, wear a uniform while the losers engage in toga parties at frat houses. This should also be a big plus for employers of all types. You want a worker with a proven record, you sure can't go wrong hiring a vet.

Remember Our Men and Women In Uniform This Christmas

Here is a short video showing what life is like for a lot of our service members stationed overseas. What we refer to as "trigger pullers", the combat fighters are stationed on what are known as COP's, Combat Outposts, far away from the amenities enjoyed by the support troops who are assigned to the larger bases known as FOB's, Forward Operating Bases.

SUPPORTING OUR MILITARY

So, you may think that Obama is a tad lukewarm in his support for the US military but he is a veritable General MacArthur compared to UK Prime Minister Gordon "Cyclops" Brown. Comes the news today that even as the bodies of four British soldiers killed on active service in Afghanistan are returned home the Government has launched a legal mission to restrict the level of payments awarded to servicemen and women injured whilst on combat.

The idea is that the injured soliders are only paid for the direct injury they receive whilst on duty but get nothing for the future consequences of it. Isn't that just wonderful? The British government, socialist to the core of course, despises the very idea of armed forces. I dare say they would rather replace the likes of the SAS with a battalion of aromatherapists. The left does not want to defend our nations and that is why even at this time it undermines the military.