Are we seeing the emergence of an American "warrior caste"?
How much do we know about why people serve or do not choose to serve in the military?
Dr. Susan Bryant, Mr. Brett Swaney, and Dr. Heidi Urben published an article in the Texas National Security Review to explore these questions and highlight research conducted over several years which included surveys of more than 1,200 midgrade to senior military officers and West Point cadets between 2017 and 2020.
In addition to confirming past research indicating that servicemembers are increasingly isolated and have a growing sense of exceptionalism, their results also indicate that the attitudes of military elites who are in the minority in terms of race, gender, and political views vary considerably at times from their majority peers, raising questions about the degree of inclusivity within the ranks today.
Read the full article here