YOUTH IN MILITARY SERVICE

In 1999, the Department of Defense asked the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences to form a Committee on the Youth Population and Military Recruitment. The Committee's charter was to examine the entire array of factors that influence propensity and enlistment and develop recommendations regarding strategies that will positively influence both. Its members included individuals with expertise in the areas of demography, military manpower and sociology, psychology, adolescent development, economics, and advertising. A variety of sources of data were used to accomplish the Committee's goals, including the Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC). In addition, large-scale studies of youth attitudes were reviewed, as were past and current practices in military recruiting and advertising. This work was reported in a National Academy Press publication entitled Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruitment.[Footnote 1] This chapter examines some of the demographic and other trends highlighted in this report that may have an effect on representation in the military in the years to come, as well as some related conclusions of the Committee.

[Footnote 1]  Committee on the Youth Population and Military Recruitment, National Research Council, P. Sackett and A. Mavor (Eds.). Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruitment. (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2002). [back to paragraph]

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