Timely poll result

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2009 – U.S. military officers have “very great prestige,” and their status is climbing, according to a poll released this week.

...More than half of those polled gave military officers top marks, saying that the position held very great prestige. Military officers tied with teachers for 51 percent.

I left the teacher reference in there just for Uboat509. More interesting to me is the steady upward track from 1982.

On demographics: without digging for supporting documentation, I expect a significant portion of the "southern" skew in recruiting figures is also due to the many military brats (I use the term as a father of three myself) with southern addresses because that's where their parents are stationed/retired. The imbalance is not geographic, it is family tradition vs nonesuch - something that is the same for most professions.

On another note, much of the current civilian view of the military is still informed by living memory of the WWII (and post-WWII) military - which was the historical exception, and not the rule it's often described as now. ("our current military is small and detached from larger population" - true but actually the norm in U.S. history). By "living memory" I mean in particular the experience of many who were not "right" for military service but who endured (in most cases honorably and many with distinction) a few years of it as very low-ranking individuals under the worst possible conditions.

And how many bright, young (Ivy-educated or otherwise) folks with world-changing/saving ideas are going to "survive" the first five or so years when "sir yes sir" is the right response to everything? Especially when they know they are the smartest in the room (a room full of people for whom "smart" appears inversely proportional to time in service/experience) and no one will listen?