Who Fights America’s Wars?

The idea of joining the military has lost much of its luster in nearly two decades of grinding war. The patriotic rush to enlist after the terrorist attacks of 2001 has faded, as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have claimed the lives of more than 7,000 American troops. (As this issue was going to press, the U.S. signed a preliminary peace deal in an effort to try to end the Afghanistan war.) For a generation of soldiers, enlisting has produced considerable hardship, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.) and lifelong physical injuries. 

But the military families who have borne nearly all of the burden, and are the most clear eyed about the risks of war, are still the most likely to encourage their sons and daughters to join. 

With the goal of recruiting about 68,000 soldiers in 2020, the Army is now trying to broaden its appeal beyond traditional recruitment pools. New marketing plays up future careers in medicine and tech, as well as generous tuition benefits for a generation crushed by student debt. The messaging often notes that most Army jobs aren’t in combat fields—de-emphasizing the dangers, including death, that can come with enlisting. 

The Army has targeted ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch (Amazon’s live-streaming gaming platform). It also has formed its own e-sports teams to play in video game tournaments as a way to promote the Army to young gamers (see “Selling Service,” below).

The idea of joining the military has lost much of its appeal in nearly two decades of grinding war. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have claimed the lives of more than 7,000 American troops. The patriotic rush to enlist after the terrorist attacks of 2001 has faded. For a generation of soldiers, enlisting has produced considerable hardship. Their challenges include post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.) and lifelong physical injuries.

Military families have endured nearly all of the burden. They are also most clear-eyed about the risks of war. Still, these families are the most likely to encourage their sons and daughters to join.

The Army has the goal of recruiting about 68,000 soldiers in 2020. It’s now trying to broaden its appeal beyond traditional recruitment pools. New marketing plays up future careers in medicine and tech. The new ads also highlight generous tuition benefits. That’s a point that might connect with a generation crushed by student debt. The messaging often notes that most Army jobs aren’t in combat fields. It’s a tactic to de-emphasize the dangers, including death, that can come with enlisting.

The Army has targeted ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch (Amazon’s live-streaming gaming platform). It also has formed its own e-sports teams to play in video game tournaments as a way to promote the Army to young gamers (see “Selling Service,” below).

But for now, rates of military service remain unequal in the U.S., and the gap may continue to widen, because a driving decision to enlist is whether a young person knows anyone who served in the military. In communities where veterans are plentiful, teachers, coaches, mothers, uncles, and other mentors often speak highly of military service. In communities where veterans are scarce, influential adults are more wary.

“Those who understand military life are more likely to consider it as a career option than those who do not,” says Kelli Bland, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Recruiting Command.

That has created a broad gap, easily seen on a map (below). The South, where the culture of military service runs deep and military installations are plentiful, produces 20 percent more recruits than would be expected, based on its youth population. The states in the Northeast, which have very few military bases and a lower percentage of veterans, produce 20 percent fewer. 

Despite what many people assume, main predictors are not based on class or race. Army data show service spread mostly evenly through middle class and lower-wage earners. Youth unemployment turns out not to be the prime factor either. And the racial makeup of the force is more or less in line with that of young Americans as a whole, though African Americans are slightly more likely to serve. Instead, the best predictor is a person’s familiarity with the military.

That distinction has created glaring disparities across the country. In 2019, Fayetteville, North Carolina, which is home to Fort Bragg, provided more than twice as many military enlistment contracts as the borough of Manhattan in New York City, even though Manhattan has eight times as many people. Many of the new contracts in Fayetteville were soldiers signing up for second and third enlistments.

But for now, rates of military service remain unequal in the U.S. The gap may continue to widen. That’s because a driving decision to enlist is whether a young person knows anyone who served in the military. In communities where veterans are plentiful, teachers, coaches, mothers, uncles, and other mentors often speak highly of military service. In communities where veterans are fewer in number, influential adults are more wary.

“Those who understand military life are more likely to consider it as a career option than those who do not,” says Kelli Bland, a spokeswoman for the Army’s Recruiting Command.

That has created a broad gap, easily seen on a map (below). In the South, the culture of military service runs deep. Military installations in that part of the country are plentiful. The South produces
20 percent more recruits than would be expected, based on its youth population. The states in the Northeast have very few military bases and a lower percentage of veterans. States in this region produce 20 percent fewer.

Despite what many people assume, main predictors are not based on class or race. Army data show that service is spread mostly evenly through middle class and lower-wage earners. Youth unemployment turns out not to be the prime factor either. African Americans are slightly more likely to serve. But the racial makeup of the force is more or less in line with that of young Americans as a whole. Instead, the best predictor is a person’s familiarity with the military.

That distinction has created noticeable disparities across the country. Fayetteville, North Carolina, is home to Fort Bragg. In 2019, the city provided more than twice as many military enlistment contracts as the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Manhattan has eight times as many people. Many of the new contracts in Fayetteville were soldiers signing up for second and third enlistments.

In 2019, after falling short of its recruiting goal the previous year by 6,500 soldiers, the Army made a push to increase recruiting efforts in 22 cities that don’t have a strong military tradition, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. As part of that effort, Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy visited officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District in December to push for greater access.

“He was doing a sort of listening tour,” says Patricia Heideman, who is in charge of high school instruction for the school district and says there is a perception that the military preys on disadvantaged students. “I told him from the educator perspective, we sometimes feel they are targeting our black and brown students and students of poverty,” Heideman says. And therefore educators are less likely to encourage students to enlist.

The challenge of recruiting outside the military’s comfort zone is evident in the story of Josh Griffin, a high school senior from Denver, Colorado. Army recruiters approached Griffin at school, and he thought the Army sounded appealing at first: money for college, a steady job, and a way to give back to his country. But then he started to think about all the other options that were available, and the military didn’t make the top of the list.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind about finding a job,” Josh says. He recently started working at a discount tire company, forgoing the life of a soldier.

In Seattle, another city where the military is trying to attract new enlistees, Army recruiters often feel as if they’re getting nowhere. Two of them stood for hours at a recent job fair without getting a single prospect.

Then one day, Myles Pankey, 19, walked into the recruiting station. A year after graduating from a top Seattle high school, he was working in construction, which paid well but bored him.

Pankey talked with Army recruiters for more than an hour, but he felt pulled in many directions. His parents weren’t crazy about him enlisting. His boss, a former Special Forces soldier, had talked up the experience, but a friend who had served in Vietnam called it a terrible idea. None of his high school friends had joined, so he’d be going on his own.

He finally told the sergeant he would wait a week before making up his mind.

“I can get a good job here, but I want to serve my country,” he said on his way out. “I guess I have some thinking to do.”

A week later, there was an opening in the Army airborne infantry, with a $10,000 bonus. Pankey signed up—and the Army had one less slot to fill.

In 2019, the Army fell short of its recruiting goal the previous year by 6,500 soldiers. Afterward, it made a push to increase recruiting efforts in 22 cities that don’t have a strong military tradition, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. As part of that effort, Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy visited officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District in December to push for greater access.

“He was doing a sort of listening tour,” says Patricia Heideman, who
is in charge of high school instruction for the school district and says there is a perception that the military preys on disadvantaged students. “I told him from the educator perspective, we sometimes feel they are targeting our black and brown students and students of poverty,” Heideman says. And therefore educators are less likely to encourage students to enlist.

The challenge of recruiting outside the military’s comfort zone is evident in the story of Josh Griffin, a high school senior from Denver, Colorado. Army recruiters approached Griffin at school. He thought the Army sounded appealing at first. He weighed the benefits, which included money for college, a steady job, and a way to give back to his country. But then he started to think about all the other options that were available. The military didn’t make the top of his list.

“I don’t have any doubt in my mind about finding a job,” Josh says. He recently started working at a discount tire company, forgoing the life of a soldier.

In Seattle, another city where the military is trying to attract new enlistees, Army recruiters often feel as if they’re getting nowhere. Two of them stood for hours at a recent job fair without getting a single prospect.

Then one day, Myles Pankey, 19, walked into the recruiting station. A year after graduating from a top Seattle high school, he was working in construction. His job paid well but bored him.

Pankey talked with Army recruiters for more than an hour, but he felt pulled in many directions. His parents weren’t crazy about him enlisting. His boss, a former Special Forces soldier, had talked up the experience, but a friend who had served in Vietnam called it a terrible idea. None of his high school friends had joined, so he’d be going on his own.

He finally told the sergeant he would wait a week before making up his mind.

“I can get a good job here, but I want to serve my country,” he said on his way out. “I guess I have some thinking to do.”

A week later, there was an opening in the Army airborne infantry, with a $10,000 bonus. Pankey signed up—and the Army had one less slot to fill.