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Podcasts Take Two
Is the US all-volunteer military system developing a warrior class?
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Jan 2, 2013
Listen • 7:10
Is the US all-volunteer military system developing a warrior class?
The draft ended almost 40 years ago, and even though the U.S. population has grown, the size of the military has declined.
U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and U.S. Navy seamen from the U.S.S. Wasp land in a CH-53 helicopter on a field November 6, 2012 in the Midland Beach area of the Staten Island borough of New York. The Marines and Navy seamen are assisting local residents removing household items damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
U.S. Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and U.S. Navy seamen from the U.S.S. Wasp land in a CH-53 helicopter on a field November 6, 2012 in the Midland Beach area of the Staten Island borough of New York. The Marines and Navy seamen are assisting local residents removing household items damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
(
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
)

The draft ended almost 40 years ago, and even though the U.S. population has grown, the size of the military has declined.

The draft ended almost 40 years ago, and even though the U.S. population has grown, the size of the military has declined. 

The service is now all-volunteer and often staffed by members of so-called "military families." According to a Department of Defense 2011 Status of Forces survey, 57 percent of active troops today are the children of members of the armed forces.

Reporter Matthew Schofield joins the show with a look at how all this is changing how the country sees its military.