Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Army Times
January 8, 2007
Despite growing disaffection with the war in Iraq, members of the U.S. armed forces remain contented with their jobs.
With a startling consistency, 86 percent of those responding to the Military Times Poll say they are satisfied with their job, a number that hasn’t varied more than two points in the four years the poll has been asking the question.
When pollsters ask Americans in general that question, they get similar numbers. A USA Today/Gallup poll last summer, for example, found 89 percent were satisfied with their jobs.
When asked to rate their overall military quality of life, fewer than 10 percent rated it poor or very poor. And that number, too, has remained level since the war began.
By large majorities, those responding:
*Are satisfied with their family lives and the time they spend with their family.
*Would sign up again if given the choice.
*Would recommend a military career to others, including their own children.
*Are not worried about their finances.
Part of the explanation for these upbeat assessments may stem from the nature of the population being surveyed. The average member of the sample — active-duty subscribers to the Military Times newspapers — is older (36 years old) and more senior (15 years’ service) than an average member of the overall force. These are men and women who have bought into the military lifestyle — and remain satisfied with that choice.
Professor David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, said the high morale reflected the nature of the group being surveyed.
“This is the career force. They’re not apprentice troops,” he said. “The troops have maintained their level of professionalism.”
The two-thirds of the respondents who said they’d sign up again today if they had to make that choice cited patriotism as the main reason. That was followed closely by pension. The 21 percent who said they would not sign up cited poor base facilities and frequent deployments as their biggest gripes.
Finally, 63 percent think that today’s troops are the best ever.
January 8, 2007
Despite growing disaffection with the war in Iraq, members of the U.S. armed forces remain contented with their jobs.
With a startling consistency, 86 percent of those responding to the Military Times Poll say they are satisfied with their job, a number that hasn’t varied more than two points in the four years the poll has been asking the question.
When pollsters ask Americans in general that question, they get similar numbers. A USA Today/Gallup poll last summer, for example, found 89 percent were satisfied with their jobs.
When asked to rate their overall military quality of life, fewer than 10 percent rated it poor or very poor. And that number, too, has remained level since the war began.
By large majorities, those responding:
*Are satisfied with their family lives and the time they spend with their family.
*Would sign up again if given the choice.
*Would recommend a military career to others, including their own children.
*Are not worried about their finances.
Part of the explanation for these upbeat assessments may stem from the nature of the population being surveyed. The average member of the sample — active-duty subscribers to the Military Times newspapers — is older (36 years old) and more senior (15 years’ service) than an average member of the overall force. These are men and women who have bought into the military lifestyle — and remain satisfied with that choice.
Professor David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, said the high morale reflected the nature of the group being surveyed.
“This is the career force. They’re not apprentice troops,” he said. “The troops have maintained their level of professionalism.”
The two-thirds of the respondents who said they’d sign up again today if they had to make that choice cited patriotism as the main reason. That was followed closely by pension. The 21 percent who said they would not sign up cited poor base facilities and frequent deployments as their biggest gripes.
Finally, 63 percent think that today’s troops are the best ever.