Module 1: Part 2
Military Context
In order to understand military records, both personal and official, it is important first to understand the context of their creation. The U.S. military consists of five branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force. According to Military OneSource’s reporting of 2020 data, the total military personnel of 2,595,937 reflects 74.3% of the total Department of Defense (DoD) personnel, with an additional 898,581 DoD civilian personnel (25.7%).
The total military personnel are further divided into five general categories:
DoD Active Duty (51.4%)
Ready Reserve (39.4%)
Retired Reserve (7.5%)
Coast Guard Active Duty (1.6%)
Standby Reserve (0.2%)
The following infographics from Military OneSource provide additional data regarding military members and their families. See the link for branch-specific information.
Note: The Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) was redesignated as the United States Space Force (USSF) in 2019 as an initial step in establishing the USSF. Military members that were assigned to AFSPC have now been assigned to the USSF but remain Airmen within the U.S. Air Force. Appropriate Air Force space-related personnel will transfer into the Space Force and become Space Force Guardians in a deliberate manner over the next years. They are included as Air Force in the 2020 data.
According to a 2021 Pew Research Center Study, less than 10% of the U.S. adult population are military veterans, and the VA predicts the veteran population will decline from 20 million in 2017 to 13.6 million in 2037. As of 2017, Gulf War Era veterans became the largest veteran cohort at over 7 million members, followed by Vietnam Era (6.7 million), Korean Conflict (1.5 million), and World War II (624,000). The demographics of veterans are also changing, with the VA projecting the proportion of female veterans to increase by 18%. Additionally, projections indicate the veteran population is becoming more diverse. According to the VA, “Minority Veterans are predicted to increase from 23.2 percent of the total Veteran population in 2017 to 32.8 percent in 2037. Hispanic Veterans will increase from 7.4 percent in 2017 to 11.2 percent in 2037. Minorities are all races/ethnicities except non-Hispanic White Veterans.”