Who Serves? The American All-Volunteer Force
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research
Who serves in the military? When the United States ended conscription and began to acquire its military personnel voluntarily, significant concerns were voiced. Would the military attract sufficient and appropriate personnel? Would the self-selected force reflect American society in terms of demographics, socio-economic origin, and ideology? Or would the force become increasingly separate and alienated from American society, maneuver to become politically independent from civil authority, and perhaps endanger the polity? We address these issues by discussing the underlying choice made by the U.S. government when it opted for an all-volunteer force, reviewing many of the concerns raised about consequences of this choice, assessing the degree to which these occurred and whether they still affect the force through an analysis of its demographic profile, and discussing concerns raised about the current force by the leadership of the Department of Defense.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Civil-Military Relations in Perspective : Strategy, Structure and Policy |
Editors | Stephen Cimbala |
Number of pages | 24 |
Place of Publication | London |
Publisher | Ashgate |
Publication date | Mar 2012 |
Pages | 115-138 |
Chapter | 7 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781409429784 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781409429791 |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Schaub, Gary Jr. and Adam Lowther. “Who Serves? The American All-Volunteer Force,” in Stephen J. Cimbala, editor, Civil-Military Relations in Perspective: Strategy, Structure, and Policy, (London: Ashgate, 2012).
ID: 37846298