A new "Population Representation" report on the U.S. military affirms that the four-decade-old volunteer force is a healthy cross-section of America, if just a little smarter, a little better educated and with a deeper southern drawl than the nation as a whole. The percentage of female enlisted members has declined slightly and the racial, ethnic and socioeconomic mix is not too different from America itself. However, the study found that black service members are underrepresented among junior enlisted pay grades (relative to whites) but overrepresented in the senior pay grades.
A Look at the All-Volunteer Force
