Why do mostly poor and less educated people join the military?

Question

I didn't say the American military specifically....

Yes, I am a traitor and proud of it.

Officers don't count for abvious reasons.

It's not an insult to call someone poor and less educated. I grew up poor, christian and conservative, in a trailer in a rural area in Oklahoma, the whole cliche. I fought my way tooth and nail to get into college. Everyday I deal with people who had more money than me growing up, and who would judge me very harshly if they knew about my past.

Answer 1

Because the military will give them money and they don't have to have any skills or education to get in.

Answer 2

In third world countries, people join the military because it is guaranteed food, clothing and education. Their populations are more destitute than you can imagine. Even the US poorest have access to some kind of assistance.
However, the US military is made up of volunteers. They must have a GED or diploma to enlist. And the pay for the enlisted soldiers is not enough to encourage someone to join just for the money. The US military has people from all walks of life, so it is not mostly poor and less educated people. I'll take a soldier any day over some of the everyday morons of our civilian population.

Answer 3

I have to object... I joined in 1985... and MOST of the US Navy enlisted had some COLLEGE on enlistment.

At the SAME time... the USMC would NOT take you unless you had a DIPLOMA... they where refusing the GED !! The Corps was limited to X personnel... so the Commandant only wanted SMART enlisted !!

Again, I was white, Jewish, and 23 when I enlisted... it was for the college funds... and I then served 15 years, 3 combat episodes, and 2 purkle hearts.

The Army is a group I can't speak to... but we all require 8th grade English..

Sure the "poor"... the economically disadvantaged come to the military because it is a JOB... with job SECURITY

Answer 4

New York Times March 30, 2003
Military Mirrors Working-Class America
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and STEVEN A. HOLMES

...As the United States engages in its first major land war in a decade, the soldiers, sailors, pilots and others who are risking, and now giving, their lives in Iraq represent a slice of a broad swath of American society - but by no means all of it.

Of the 28 servicemen killed so far, 20 were white, 5 black, 3 Hispanic - proportions that neatly mirror those of the military as a whole. But just one was from a well-to-do family, and with the exception of a Naval Academy alumnus, just one had graduated from an elite college or university.

A survey of the American military's endlessly compiled and analyzed demographics paints a picture of a fighting force that is anything but a cross section of America. With minorities overrepresented and the wealthy and the underclass essentially absent, with political conservatism ascendant in the officer corps and Northeasterners fading from the ranks, America's 1.4 million-strong military seems to resemble the makeup of a two-year commuter or trade school outside Birmingham or Biloxi far more than that of a ghetto or barrio or four-year university in Boston.

Answer 5

while there are some, the majority are just normal middle class average Joe's. I joined and I grew up with a lower middle class family but consider myself quite normal and average. I served with very few who would qualify in that category as well. The ones that do join who are poor or uneducated are very very smart, because it provides an opportunity to get away from whatever is holding them back.

Answer 6

In general, military service offers a stable job and training for people who otherwise may not have an opportunity.

In US service, healthy people with a high school diploma or a GED and no real criminal record can enter and make the equivalent (with tax advantages, allowances, and the like) of someone with an Associates or better to start. Additionally, they receive training in a particular trade (whether civilian transferable or not) and have the opportunity to attend college.

For them, it's a leg up.

For people with more money, the motivation to join is more psychological or social than practical. Additionally, people with money tend to have more options in how they fill their psychological needs.

Answer 7

You are stupid. I joined the Military, I served for 20 years as an enlisted man. I have MBA in Chemistry, and a BA in Business.

Guess What? Genius I'm not poor neither.

Answer 8

You are wrong. Just about all of the officers in all branches of the military are college graduates, either the military academies, colleges with military detachments, ROTC, and regular college degrees followed by enlistment. Career officers continue their education while on active duty. In the enlisted ranks, over 96% are high school graduates. In the general population in the US slightly more than 72% of high school students graduate. Not all who apply to the military are accepted. The recruiters still get to pick the best and brightest of applicants. Pat Tillman was a multi-millionaire when he enlisted. Volunteers come from all walks of life. You have nothing to support your claim of "poor and less educated..."

Answer 9

That is so not true. Certainly the military gets some of those, but they also get smart young adults looking to get some college funding, or some training they can use to earn a living after their service. They get people with a sense of civic duty and patriotism joining. They are also getting quite a few college graduates.

My nephew is looking to join the coast guard. He's not poor, nor less educated. He's a high school graduate who has kind of drifted in the year he's been out of high school. He's looking to join to have some adventure, get a sense of purpose and discipline, and learn skills for the career he eventually wants.

You are buying the erroneous John Kerry point of view that those who don't go to college, or don't have the resources to go to college, get "stuck in Iraq."

Answer 10

That is not entirely true I joined in October of 1990 because of Desert Shield it was more for adventure than being poor or uneducated, in fact I left college to join. Many guys are there because it is the best oppurtunity for them and some are there for adventure, education, family tradition, sense of duty to country their are many reasons why people join. While I am sure some join because they are poor and uneducated do not discount the other reasons.

Answer 11

You are a traitor and proud of it? I don't understand that one. Your answer is self-evident. The military provides opportunities that aren't available to these individuals otherwise. Small towns (generally with lower incomes) usually have a strong military tradition as well.