All told, nine million Americans work for the federal government as contractors, full-time employees, or members of the military. These people make up roughly five percent of the country’s 160 million–person workforce. The largest group are the 3.3 million people who serve in the military or work as defense contractors. (About 1.3 million Americans are active-duty service members, a decline from roughly two million during the Cold War.) These military personnel are supported by hundreds of thousands of defense contractors, a number that surged after September 11, 2001, and has in recent years
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