Troops assemble at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in December 2013. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Troops assembled at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in December 2013. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Equally the size of the active-duty U.S. military machine has edged downwards, its demographic makeup has inverse, largely in means that reflect trends in the broader society.

There were 1,340,533 agile-duty troops in 2015 (including those serving in the U.Southward. Coast Guard). This marks the smallest active-duty force since 2001, according to a new Pew Inquiry Center assay of data from the U.S. Section of Defense (DOD). In improver, the share of Americans serving in the active-duty military has declined marginally to 0.4% of the population in 2015 (down from 0.v% in 2009).

Hither are some key facts about today's war machine.

1 The Regular army remains the largest branch of the U.Southward. military. In 2015, 36% of all agile-duty military personnel were serving in the Army. The Navy and Air Force were comparable in size, each bookkeeping for roughly a quarter of agile-duty personnel. The Marine Corps fabricated up 14% of the active-duty war machine, while the Declension Guard made upwards three%.

The Army, Navy and Air Force are substantially smaller in numbers today compared with their size in 1990. The size of the Marine Corps' active-duty strength has besides decreased, merely not to the extent of these other branches. By comparison, the number of active-duty members of the Coast Guard has ticked upwards.

2 The active-duty strength remains largely male-dominated, but women accept made inroads in contempo decades. Overall, 15% of DOD active-duty military personnel are women, up from 11% in 1990. In 2015, 17% of active-duty officers were female – up from their share of 12% in 1990. And 15% of enlisted personnel were female in 2015, up from eleven% in 1990. The share of women in the ranks varies significantly by service co-operative. Women comprise virtually i-in-five active-duty personnel in the Air Force (19%) but simply viii% of all Marines. Women make upwards 18% of the Navy and 14% of the Army.

3 As the country has get more racially and ethnically diverse, and so has the U.S. armed services. Racial and ethnic minority groups made upwards 40% of Defense Section agile-duty military in 2015, up from 25% in 1990. (In 2015, 44% of all Americans ages xviii to 44 were racial or ethnic minorities.)

In the aforementioned twelvemonth, blacks made up 17% of the DOD active-duty armed services – somewhat higher than their share of the U.South. population ages 18 to 44 (13%). Blacks have consistently been represented in greater shares among enlisted personnel (19% in 2015) than among the commissioned officers (9%). The share of the active-duty force that is Hispanic has risen speedily in contempo decades. In 2015, 12% of all active-duty personnel were Hispanic, three times the share in 1980.

4 The agile-duty military has grown older in the past 40 years. Roughly 2-thirds of all DOD agile-duty armed services personnel were ages 30 or younger in 2015. Only about one-in-x (9%) were older than 40. Even and then, since the armed services typhoon concluded in 1973, the average age of officers and enlisted personnel has increased. The average war machine officer was roughly 34.5 years onetime in 2015, upward from 32.1 in 1973. And the average enlisted member was just over age 27 in 2015, compared with age 25 in 1973. The historic period gap between officers and the troops they pb has remained consequent over that time menstruation.

v Armed forces officers take considerably college levels of educational attainment, on average, than enlisted personnel and U.S. adults. More eight-in-ten DOD active-duty officers have at least a bachelor's degree, including 42% who hold an advanced caste. They are iv times equally likely as average adults ages 18 to 44 to have completed a postgraduate degree.

The educational contour of enlisted personnel is much different. The vast majority of enlisted personnel (92%) have completed high school or some college. This compares with 60% of all U.S. adults ages xviii to 44. Fewer than one-in-x enlisted personnel (7%) have a bachelor's degree, compared with 19% of all adults ages 18 to 44.

6 There is much more to the U.South. war machine than the active-duty force. In recent conflicts around the world, the National Guard and Reserves have oftentimes fought aslope the active-duty military machine. In 2015, 826,106 adults served in the Selected Reserves – those National Baby-sit members and reservists who were available to exist chosen to active duty. An additional 275,247 adults are in the Inactive National Guard and Individual Set up Reserve and do non engage in regular training or agile-duty drills.

The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve brand up the largest share of the Selected Reserves (roughly two-thirds together). The Air National Guard and Air Forcefulness Reserve account for an additional 21%.

Related posts:

The irresolute face of America's veteran population

U.S. active-duty military machine presence overseas is at its smallest in decades

Kim Parker is director of social trends research at Pew Enquiry Eye.

Anthony Cilluffo is a former research analyst who focused on social and demographic trends at Pew Research Center.

Renee Stepler is a former enquiry analyst who focused on social and demographic trends research at Pew Research Center.