Is it true most USA soilders are from poor families and/or poorly educated?

Question

This is something i heard, i know i will get nutters answering, i will filter them and look for intelligent answers

thanks

coma you were the one i wanted to answer, you seem to answer with your head i like that,

thanks for the links everyone,

Edwin come on they rape and murder that dont mean they are smart,

also the leader of the nation has billions at his hands you cant say hes smart?

Answer 1

Yes as a matter of fact they are. Most of them are from southern regions of the U.S. However not all of 'em are poorly educated. They join with the military just because they need a job and a stable income in order to make a better future for them and for their families. And the sad thing is they don't even know why they are going to iraq.What is the point for being there. Here is a letter from one of those American soldiers.

The War is Killing My Friends and I'm Sick of It

From: SPC Fish
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 12:22 AM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: I can't sleep

Thank you! Thank you for caring about us, speaking for us, and telling the truth. A British coalition soldier gave me his copy of Fahrenheit 9/11 while I was serving in Afghanistan. That soldier was involved in a suicide car bomb this month and we took care of him at the hospital. I just got back yesterday and looked you up. I've always been a liberal girl, and it ticks me off to no end that Bush is going to try to take away my rights and screw America over with his Christian-influenced "leadership." And what makes me even more angry is that all my friends and my husband are serving in a bullshit war in Iraq. I served in another bullshit war as a nurse in Kandahar.

I have sent soldiers with missing limbs, with vents breathing for them, with malaria infections, and with burns from IEDs and land mines back to Germany and I don't know why this had to happen in the first place. We will never find Osama, it's a lost effort. In Iraq, we are only breeding more terrorists because we won't leave them alone and let them fix their own problems. We just want to storm on in and make "functional governments" within the Middle East so we can profit from them and their oil. The war is killing my friends and I'm sick of it, I want my husband to come home alive. I'm sick of thinking about the soldiers screaming in the trauma bay before we took them to surgery, and I haven't even seen combat, only the effects. I watched C-SPAN today and saw my senator, Barbara Boxer, ask Condoleeza Rice why we're still there if no progress is being made. She could not answer it, her reply was a tap dance of excuses. It made me cry. Thank you for listening to us.

- SPC Fish

Answer 2

Interesting question, so I googled it and you're correct. Coma had the right answer of course. Someone else said people join the military to GET an education and that's probably true, but that's not what you asked. Anyway-I lost the link when I got interrupted-but it's easy to find. No branch has even 10% with a post high school education/GED. The Air Force has the highest level of education and it's still under 10%. Also, I didn't see an inclusion of the National Guard in the studies. These are kids who wanted a 2nd income to help their young families and did not anticipate multiple tours in Iraq. I know a lot of Guardsmen and their families because of my job. I don't know any with more that a high school degree or GED. The ONLY thing I'd disagree with Coma on is that you don't have to be rich to go to college. State schools in my state are only $125 a semester. Therefore, you only need to be smart enough to see an alternative to the military. It's true many may join to get an education, but they're not getting much education while serviing--that's after they get out. Gengi's link is not the one I found. I think I googled education of soldiers or something generic like that. Gengi's link goes to income.

Answer 3

Until recently I volunteer had to have a high school diploma (not they except GEDs) so that means that 100% of the military are high school graduates. That is much higher that the national average.

I had one guy working for me with 10,000 shares in his portfolio from ATT from his grandfather. Another did his own investing and his portfolio was worth a quarter million. I worked with a guy who had a patent on an electronic device that a company was throwing money at him to buy. I had a chief who owned about 10 apartment buildings around the country.

David M needs to expand his mind some. I did not go to college before I joined the navy (I was 17) but I went to Naval Nuclear Power school and learned physics, chemistry, engineering, and calculus. David would say that I was uneducated because I didn't go to "college". Afterwards I took courses in electronics and marine engineering. Now I'm studying psychology and a few years ago I was studying business and programming.

Naahhhh, we were all too stupid to make it on the outside, right Dave?

Answer 4

Your question is a little misleading. Yes most members of are armed services are from lower income families because of the financial help they can get from serving, but not necessarily poor families. And education is what an individual makes of it not necessarily were it was obtained from.

Answer 5

Most are from middle class or lower middle class.

Most have a High School Diploma.

Very few are college educated. Mostly just the Officers are college educated.

Answer 6

No.

IMO, Antoni, you should have asked yourself this question before asking the one you posted:

"Would I entrust equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars to uneducated people?" Probably not.

Would you, Antoni, entrust your camera equipment to the 14 year old next door? Unsupervised? Just hand it over and tell him to have fun? I rather doubt it.

Answer 7

They may be poor from some families, but they are generally not 'poor educated', they are very intelligent, sometimes

Answer 8

honestly, I am not sure, I don't have any stats, but I do know that if you have money you will go to a better school and will probably get a free ride through college from your parents. The poorer can not do this, so they go into the military instead of getting the free ride from their parents.

Answer 9

No way! A lot of men/women join the army in hopes of obtaining a higher college education.. Honestly, as an American I find this question a bit insulting. Do some research..

Answer 10

I was attending college for engineering when I joined. most of my group were in school to be or are engineers.......I was not poor either. Dad is an Engineer and supervises a team of about 20 engineers.