Recruits entering today’s military are head and shoulders above their contemporaries, a top Pentagon official said. Bill Carr, acting principal Defense deputy for military personnel policy, has debunked five often-quoted myths about today’s recruits. His findings:
Myth 1 – Recruits are less educated and have fewer work alternatives than other young Americans. The fact: Military recruits are far better educated than the general youth population. More than 90 percent of recruits have a high school diploma, compared to about 75 percent of the U.S. youth population.
Myth 2 – The military tends to attract people with lower aptitudes. The fact: Recruits actually have much higher average aptitudes than the general youth population. In fiscal 2005, 67 percent of recruits scored above the 60th percentile on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, while the average young person will score 50 percent.
Myth 3 – The military attracts a disproportionate number of poor or underprivileged youth. The fact: Military recruits mirror the U.S. population and are solidly middle class.
Myth 4 – A disproportionate number of recruits come from urban areas. The fact: Inner cities are the most underrepresented area among new recruits
Myth 5 – The military isn’t geographically representative of America. The facts: The southern part of the United States generates 41 percent from a youth population of 36 percent. Twenty-four percent of recruits come from north-central regions, which have 23 percent of the youth population. The west, with 24 percent of the nation’s youth, contributes 21 percent of the new enlistees. And the northeast, with 18 percent of the youth population, provides 14 percent of new recruits.
