Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military

by Jim Mattis

Civilians tend to overstate what military force can achieve, to assume a wider margin for error than those with knowledge and experience

Half of all active-duty military personnel are now stationed in only five states: California, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia.

In 2010, for instance, only about 1 percent of students commissioned through ROTC came from Ivy League schools.[22] But since the eight small Ivy League schools confer less than 1 percent of all bachelor’s degrees granted in the United States, this is not particularly telling.

Consider this: the state of California, which is hardly known for its homogeneous population or its right-wing politics, hosts the single largest concentration of active-duty military personnel in the nation.

veteran status has no significant impact on roll-call votes, so if the dearth of veterans in Congress has an effect on politics, it must be through other means

“America doesn’t lose wars, it loses interest.”