Why So Few Choose to Serve
I was asked to talk about what drives a someone to join the military. Great idea Andrew, I really appreciate it. I am going to focus the question toward why so few join the military, however. The reason I am doing this is because to some degree the decision to join is very personal and I very much do not want to leave anyone out.
Just to establish a few key understandings before I answer this question:
1. I’m going to focus on the bigger picture.
2. I am going to utilize an economic model.
3. I understand that this is a very complex issue, and is ultimately a personal decision that each person makes before signing on the dotted line.
Here are some assumptions to make about this model.
1. Everyone in the market is applying for one generic job in the military.
2. Everyone has perfect information about the costs and benefits of military service, recruiters don’t have any impact on the amount of people enlisted.
3. It is understood that the government has the monopoly on jobs available. They are the only place where someone can enter into military service. (Which will be another blog.)
Remember that this is a simple model.
There is a video at the end of this explaining the finer points of this figure. But I do want to offer a quick walk around of this model.
The vertical axis is Wage, the horizontal is the quantity of labor. The curved line is the Supply line, it begins past 0 because there are individuals who regardless of the cost will serve in the military. For whatever reason, I’ll simply call it patriotism, these individuals will enter the military for free. Now, there comes a point where the supply of individuals, fueled by patriotic fervor will be exhausted and we will need to begin compensating people for the labor they provide. That is the Demand line, the amount of individuals that the US government wants for various wages.
As you can see, the cheaper the cost the more they want, sounds just like our government. Where that Demand line crosses the supply line is the wage that the government is going to pay, that is W1, the horizontal line running across. But for those patriotic individuals, they are receiving a greater wage than what they really wanted. Because they would work for free, they are receiving a higher pay.
For some, it is patriotically motivated, an altruistic decision focused heavily on the greater social good. Others are motivated by family history, a role model who had served, who they are now following in their footsteps. Some are motivated by a personal experience. Then, there are those who want to better themselves and feel as though the military is a place where they can do that, by virtue of a career, or a step toward their goals, regardless of the risk. There are as many different reasons as there are veterans in and out of uniform. (How this may apply to recruiting is an issue I’ll address in another blog.)
Now, looking at if from this perspective it seems as though we veterans are less a labor force and more individuals soliciting our labor. We want to serve. We want to do our part, to protect our families and our nation. Very few of us would do that for free, but there is a population among us that would. If there is any question of that, remember what costs many have paid and continue to pay in order to provide that service. Because no government, corporation or man can compensate those men and women for what they have paid.
So, why do we serve? Why do we few choose to serve? I believe that it is the deeply held belief that we can make a difference, that our sacrifice is worth it. And our nation will be a better place for it.
As a footnote. Anything I have said that could be considered accurate or correct about this model came from Prof Waddoups of the UNLV Economics department. Anything wrong was because I misunderstood something, it happens a lot.
Category: Politics
Wow I guess I retained more from collage than I thought. I actually understood this.
Also,
Yeah how many times did we hear our Sergeant or Commander say to us…”Well, *hell* you *KNOW* we’re not in this for the money!”
/ Ha, Take THAT!!!
I had a Battalion Commander tell everyone during a brief that the Marine Corps will give you everything that money can’t buy.
I still laugh when I hear that, but I still would have done it regardless of the pay.
Q: Why did Spock’s father marry his mother?
A: It seemed liked the logical thing to do at the time.
(But, it may case it may have been guilt over my cousin’s husband who went to Saudi Arabia in 1990.)
Any reference to Star Trek is automatically correct.
I had a MSG this last deployment who was a Desert Storm I vet, his stories were very different than what I expected.
Oops,
“my case”
“So, why do we serve? Why do we few choose to serve? I believe that it is the deeply held belief that we can make a difference, that our sacrifice is worth it. And our nation will be a better place for it.”
Thank you Adam for this post. It was quite informative. Your paragraph I quoted above was the factor for me. Looking at my family history of military service, feeling proud as I listened from a young age to THEIR pride in their service, engrained itself in me. I felt I owed the same to our country as they had given.
That is a huge factor for a lot of people, it is an ingrained culture of service that we are brought up with. It is important for someone overcoming the resistance to what a hard job it is, and how low the financial return is.
Adam I wonder what is in store for our country as the “Greatest Generation”, I was parented by is almost gone. The Vietnam vets are my age and older. The younger Iraq and Afghanistan vets are fewer it seems but that may be faulty number info on my part. My point I guess is that with Congress, for example, who are around 20% veterans as opposed to about 4 times that when I was growing up, where will the impetus which caused me to join come from in the future? I don’t think I posed that well but I hope you understand. There seems to me to be a completely different mentality in American youth today, towards the military, than was the case in my childhood.
I saw something like this in the early 90s and what struck me was the number of people who reported their motivation was something intangible. Almost to a man respondents reported that THEY contacted the recruiter. Having just completed a tour on recruiting duty I thought the survey was fatally flawed since I could count the number of mentally, morally and physically qualified walk-ins I’d seen in 3-years on two hands. My favorite response, “My recruiter’s breath stunk of old coffee and cigarettes and I joined so he’d stop talking.”
I mailed in a comment card, then he pursued me doggedly. I avoided him at first just to get him to leave me alone. Then he ended up being assigned to my Battalion my second tour (Which my mother was happy about). Sometimes everyone needs a little push.
Heh.
I started bugging my recruiters about midway through my freshman year (high school).
I dropped out of school, my senior year, finished up requirements for grad in a month of “adult school” so’s I could get to boot camp as soon as possible after my 18th birthday.
I joined knowing Vietnam was in my future. I had many options, school, coast guard, reserves, in order to avoid the war. No way, my ancestors served in every war this nation has fought.
Another question is why is my nephew getting out. He is a major now, 2 tours Iraq, 2 tours the Stan.
My enlistment is up in three years, I’ll have 14 total years in at the time. I may still walk. If the benefit isn’t there it isn’t worth it. Especially considering lifetime earnings and how the military can hold a person back in their civilian job. The retirement is ok active duty and a joke reserve/guard side. Certainly not worth staying in for its own sake.
I joined the Navy because it seemed like the right thing to do. My father thought it was a good idea. (Only time he ever said something like that.)
I was right. It was a good idea. Never looked back.
I joined the NG for two reasons. They were that my family has a long history of service dating back generations and for the college money. I then realised that I loved being a Soldier and went active duty. 20 years later I am about to retire with no regrets with my choices in life (except for the ex-wife).
It feels like they issue us ex-wives. I’ve worked up another economics model to talk about why being in a relationship with veterans and service members is different but after I explained it to my roommate and his eyes glazed over I think I’m just going to table it.
Sometimes that ex-wife choice isn’t always yours to make my friend….sometimes they decide that’s how it’s happening regardless of your thoughts on the process….
The good news is if you have half a brain you can choose better the second time around…
The bad news is if you strike out on round two it means there is mounting evidence that you, and not the women, are potentially a significant source of the problem…at least that’s what I’ve heard from someone with personal experience…
Yeah.
One concept I remember from my economics class in college is that everyone acts in his/her own self-interest; but that it’s a mistake to think that “self-interest” includes only making money. A doctor may get satisfaction from healing the sick. A Soldier, a Peace Corps volunteer, or a worker in a soup kitchen may get satisfaction from serving others. A millionaire may get satisfaction from philanthropy. All are acting in their self-interest.
Me? Initially it was mostly for the money; I needed a job, and the Army was hiring. After I was in, though, I discovered that I liked my work, I liked the people I worked with (for the most part), and I got satisfaction from doing my small part to contribute to the nation’s defense. So, that’s why I’ve stayed in, remaining in the reserves after leaving active duty. Now, even though I got my 20-year letter several years ago, I’m still at it, because I still like what I’m doing, and I won’t lie – I also want to accumulate as many retirement points as I can! So, it’s a combination of financial and intangible factors, which I’m sure is true for most folks.
You are absolutely correct, which is why the supply curve started further down the quantity line, it is to recognize that there are intangible non-wage related factors that relate to our decision to serve.
I started to get a headache the first time I looked at that graph, but I see it now. (I only took a couple of econ courses, and it was a long time ago!)
I’m having flashbacks to my Mirco Economics class
Agreed. The only reason I even like Econ is because it is a black and white way to explain very complex issues. Especially with simple visuals.
3 deployments,it was a fuck of a ride,I always thought it was the right thing to due,that a blowing shit up is just great.
Blowing shit up is the right thing to do. I tell people it was the coolest camping trip ever.
“I tell people it was the coolest camping trip ever.”
+1 !!
I remember being thoroughly disgusted by the draft dodgers and protesters during the late 60s and early 70s. I decided that if someone had to go, it might as well be someone who would take the job seriously, do their best, and bring as many home as possible.
That is precisely my argument against a draft. I don’t want to serve with people who don’t want to be there.
I agree. My brother who is VN era veteran thinks we should have a draft. I told him that’s because he wouldn’t have to be the NCO who had to deal with the malcontents. We have enough problems with volunteers who decide they hate it. What would it be like dealing with nitwits who are forced to do it?
Most draftees were decent guys who did their jobs even if they didn’t want to be there. Many of them were decorated,and many of them were better soldiers than the enlistees who ostensibly wanted to be there. I have known a number of volunteers, including NCOs and officers, who were jerks. I have known many draftees, including NCOs and officers, who were a pleasure to serve with.
Most of those who served in WWii were drafted, and they seem to have done okay.
Finally, nobody in their right mind wants to be in combat, so you are sol.
I joined because I was tired of being drunk and needed money for school.
I finally got to hear the real story about why my Dad joined the Navy in the late ’50s. At my Dad’s funeral, one of his longtime college buds told me the story. A bunch of them were drunk and pissed off at the university they were attending. They all agreed to enlist on the following day. My Dad was the only one that did. When he got out, he didn’t mess around at school anymore and graduated with 2 BS degrees in short order. Growing up, my Dad never was too complimentary of his time in the Navy. He was a Radioman on minesweepers and I guess it just wasn’t something he liked too much. At a subconscious level, his persistent attitude probably affected me and kept me away from the recruiters when I was fresh out of HS (1981). I went and talked to a TX Guard recruiter about the CWO program to fly helos on the eve of Gulf War I but he told me I was too old. I took the ASVAB, but the MOS the recruiter suggested did not light my fire (at the time). So instead, I finished school and went to Alaska to fish, log, and work on the North Slope… and got even older. I have 2 sons now that are not teenagers yet. I will be happy if they decide to enlist and serve in any capacity. In retrospect, it would have been time well spent for me.
Good story.
I got two minor in possession of alcohol violations my senior year of high school, which led me parents to believe I had no self control and could not handle college. I come from a family of significant means and looking back on it I took advantage of that. My parents told me two months before I was supposed to go to college that they would not pay for it, until I could prove it at a community college for two years or I could join the military. I chose the later and was dumb enough to join the Navy thinking I would be banging some Tai hookers on a ship. I knew nothing about the military and chose to be a FMF Corpsman because it sounded cool and they sold me on an extra year to get 8404 which sounded even more bad ass. I literally knew nothing about the military except sailors liked to get drunk. Left for boot camp that August and when I found out FMF Corpsman never go on ships during their first enlistment and always go out with the Marines I was disappointed because I thought I was going to be banging some random hoes in the Pacific. A year after boot camp I found myself being a line Corpsman in Ramadi, thinking to myself “fuck, I am stupid.” A year after my first deployment I ended up in Narray, Afghanistan thinking to myself again, “fuck, how stupid was I to not actually read the job description of an FMF Corpsman.” 4 months into that deployment I was injured by an IED and medvac’d to Germany then Walter Reed and was medically retired as an HM2 with 3.5 years of service (the day I made HM2 was one of the best days I have had thus far). After my retirement in 2008 I went to a top tier college, graduated with two degrees, and I am about to be attending a top 10 MBA program. During my interview for my MBA admission they asked how the military shaped me in a short period of… Read more »
Well done. I always enjoy hearing about guys who were better for their time and are leaving the service to become successes. We don’t hear enough of those stories.
I was also disappointed that I didn’t get to travel anywhere cool. There is nothing awesome about Iraq or Afghanistan and certainly no thai girls.
I’m going to put something together talking about recruitment. Not that any of it will be a surprise to anyone on this blog but just some food for though.
“There is nothing awesome about Iraq”
I beg to differ Adam, while many saw Iraq as an arid wasteland, I spent almost every day amazed that I was spending a year traveling through and living in a region so incredibly rich in history.
Come on, the birth place of a 3000+ year old ziggurat almost literally a stones throw from the front of our tent, the ruins of the city that gave birth to the Biblical Abraham and Lot just a mile down the road, frequent stops at the ruins of Babylon, during one of which myself and a friend got a guided dawn tour of the digs going back to the late 1920’s and 30’s by the son of an 80 year old archeologist who still sifts through the rubble. I could go on and on and on about just how cool Iraq the region is, even if many of the people we encountered left much to be desired.
drc…thank you for serving. I am glad you lived, glad you are well and especially glad you got your degrees. You said it best. The military is what one makes of it.
Great story, Brother! How wise your parents were!
Thanks for serving, and welcome home! 🙂
I had a thing for olive drab.
Or drink beer and shoot guns.
For my kids, it’s a mix of all those things. We were fortunate to attend the Medal of Honor ceremony for my uncle in May 2002 which left a big impression on all my kids. Besides the actual ceremony in the Rose Garden, we attended another ceremony in the Hall of Heroes in the Pentagon, undergoing repairs from the 9/11 attacks. We were also treated to an exhibition in the Ellipse which was a review of military history (great show!). We visited all of the memorials in addition to other activities. We have a number of family members who are serving or have served in the past, besides my uncle. My boys liked nothing better than to hear their stories. When my son was considering his future, he started looking into military service. He ended up choosing the Air National Guard because he wasn’t sure he wanted to commit full-time and he liked the benefits the Guard offered, including being able to stay near home. The patriotic factor is definitely part of it. He’s still considering full-time after his 6-year commitment is up. My daughter was at a crossroads. She had been training almost her entire life to be a ballet dancer but the competition is fierce and she didn’t make it. She also suffered a bad breakup with a complete jerk. Around the same time, we attended my son’s BMT graduation and she was impressed by the pomp and circumstance and patriotism as well as the opportunities and experiences it offered her brother so she signed up. Fate would have it that before she shipped out for BMT, she met the love of her life. They quickly decided to marry after she returned home. Because of her support, he joined the Army National Guard, something he had always wanted to do but his previous significant other refused to allow. We’re eagerly awaiting his return from AIT in a couple of weeks. My daughter admits that while her experiences have been enriching, and she loves her Guard job, she wouldn’t have done it if they had met before she signed… Read more »
It can be a great place for a family, and I’m a huge proponent for the Guard and what it has to offer.
Thanks for sharing your story.
“I was asked to talk about what drives a someone to join the military.”
Well as I recall it was a 1979 Impala 4 door…..
🙂
And a family history of service in uniform for three different countries.
Mine was a 89 Dodge Caravan. 🙂
I don’t know about this one Adam. I don’t think an economic model is going to get you where you want to be or at least one this simple.
Your premise is “why we serve”; why you do something is measured by influences on motivation (where economics is in play but far from the complete list of influencers). This approach is dangerous because focusing on one of a myriad of datapoints will ultimately lead you to a false conclusion.
I would suggest you consider another model, perhaps Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If you look at the pyramid of needs most economic influencers are in the base two categories (physiological/safety). Thus your model ignores hugely important aspects of motivation such as Love, Esteem and self-actualization. This is where the uber-patriot characters come in.
Joining the military is in and of itself not an economic activity. Economic concerns certainly can play a role in the decision but motivation is not economic activity either.
However recruiting/retention can be measured economically. Simple supply and demand. When the demand is greater than the supply and it always is once you pass that super patriot group that you mentioned; the supply is increased by simple economics.
No recruiter can make someone patriotic or selfless but he can toss out a big bonus or pay for college debt or provide free technical training etc.
All of these are economic activities, motivation is not.
In march 1970 I was on my way to a class at umass Boston. Stopped in an army recruiters office on the way and got a pamphlet about being airborne”the training the toughest, the men the best. Here the men talk in superlatives” thought I was tough so I enlisted with the airborne option. Years later I realized how much good it really did for me. If nothing else it instilled discipline and stamina. When my niece graduated from mp school a new years ago and I went to see her graduate she told me she was honored that I was there. I told her the honor was all mine as she was a third generation American and a fourth generation us army volunteer.
During early 1970s my parents subscribed to U.S. News and World Report magazine. There were frequent articles regarding the Soviet threat to the U.S.(and the world). This and a sense of patriotism motivated me to contact a Navy recruiter and I signed for the delayed entry program in 1976, senior year of high school. Many classmates mocked me for being a fool, as the military was not very popular at the time. Stayed for the full twenty, best decision I ever made, in large part due to a news magazine. BTW, USN & WR had a definite pro U.S. attitude in those days, not sure how it is today.