Interesting article

[Mrs Mungo]

I know, I know, it's from the Heritage Foundation. But, it's an interesting article, nonetheless.

[Joker]

My dh always gets weird looks when people find out he graduated from Berkeley and then went into the Marine Corps (he also got those same looks while in service). Most just assume those serving in the military are from a different background than he is. His dad and mine also entered into the military after college. It is interesting.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I know, I know, it's from the Heritage Foundation. But, it's an interesting article, nonetheless.

 

The blip at the end of chart #2 is interesting where it shows a disportionate percentage of enlistees from $1000000+ income areas.

 

I think the chart on education underplays how educated enlisted members are. It is comparing non-prior service enlistees (ie entry level) to national 18-24 year olds. But someone who enlisted at 18 and has stayed on until 23-24 has not only attended a number of service schools, but may have also done college courses through the various colleges on military bases or online.

 

But very interesting article, especially since we were having threads recently about general trends in political leanings in the military

[Mrs Mungo]

The blip at the end of chart #2 is interesting where it shows a disportionate percentage of enlistees from $1000000+ income areas.

 

We have known many people who "come from money" (as we say :D). In Germany we served with the son of one of the founders of AOL. He married a Czech woman while we were in Germany and eventually got out of the military to run his dad's charitable foundation.

 

I think the chart on education underplays how educated enlisted members are. It is comparing non-prior service enlistees (ie entry level) to national 18-24 year olds. But someone who enlisted at 18 and has stayed on until 23-24 has not only attended a number of service schools, but may have also done college courses through the various colleges on military bases or online.

 

I totally agree.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My dh always gets weird looks when people find out he graduated from Berkeley and then went into the Marine Corps (he also got those same looks while in service). Most just assume those serving in the military are from a different background than he is. His dad and mine also entered into the military after college. It is interesting.

 

I remember reading a great article by a Marine dad whose son had graduated from a select high school in New York and then enlisted in the Marines. He (the dad) got all sorts of odd responses from the other parents. They had a hard time understanding why this "normal" kid would be joining the Marines. The article went on to describe the dad's attending Marine Corps boot camp graduation and how he felt a sense of family with the other parents, who were mostly people he would have otherwise never rubbed elbows with.

 

I think that Keeping Faith is the book that the dad later wrote.

 

One of my favorite anecdotes is that Marines are disportionately more likely to mark "other" for race or ethnicity on a survey form. I can vividly remember having one Marine point out another telling me to go report to "that dark green Marine over there" so he could straighten me out.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One of our friends is now a commanding officer. He comes from a well off background in Houston. He was telling my dh once about going home for the holidays and being around a bunch of his high school friends. They were high mucky mucks in business and were bringing in a lot of money (this WAS a couple years ago, so their perspective may have shifted some).

 

He was telling them about the sort of duty he has and hours he keeps and how much he makes a year. He said that they not only couldn't understand, but actively kept asking him why he would keep doing what he did for so little money.

 

I think if you have to ask, you probably wouldn't be able to process the answer. I can honestly say that when trouble is stirring in the Pacific, that I am actually comforted by knowing that he and his ship are out there. (And I don't say that about every CO I've ever met by any means.)