“There is no doubt that the volunteer force took in few Americans than the military of the draft era, leaving only a small minority of Americans with any direct experience with or understanding of the military.  It was significant that the military became more working class, with a virtually absent middle class, especially an absent white middle class.  The military-civilian gap was a gap of class, and to some degree race, in which war and the armed forces had become largely a working-class affair.”  –Jennifer Mittelstadt, AT WAR, p. 102

From Conscription to Selective Service

1917 Recruiting Poster

Cold War Era Military Politics

President Kennedy and Secretary McNamara

After 1973

Gen. Powell and President Clinton, 1993

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell crisis

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” cartoon by Pat Oliphant (1993)

Discussion Question

How much has American society and the US military changed since 1993?