Are veterans becoming more geographically isolated?

Jay Teachman is a sociology professor at Western Washington University. His paper, due for publication later this year in the journal Armed Forces & Society...

According to new research, today’s veterans are clustering in a collection of rural communities.

That data seems to confirm former Defense secretary Robert Gates’s worry that the military was getting more and more isolated from the day to day lives of the citizens it’s supposed to defend.

Jay Teachman is a sociology professor at Western Washington University. His paper, due for publication later this year in the journal Armed Forces & Society, finds that the veteran population is getting smaller, but it’s also becoming more and more concentrated in a relative handful of geographic locations. He discussed the findings and their implications with Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Getty Images/iStockphoto/tab1962

    A decade after its creation, DHA thinks it has building blocks in place for an integrated military health system

    Read more
    U.S. Navy/MC1 Byron C. LinderSOUTH PACIFIC (July 9, 2017) Operations Specialist 1st Class Charles Hammond, from Kansas City, Missouri, monitors tracks aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) during an air defense exercise comprised of Sterett, amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20), amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48), Royal Australian Navy frigate helicopter HMAS Ballarat (FFH 155), Royal Australian Navy guided missile frigate HMAS Darwin (FFG 04), and Royal Australian Navy frigate helicopter HMAS Toowoomba (FFH 156) as part of Talisman Saber 17. Sterett, part of a combined U.S.-Australia-New Zealand expeditionary strike group (ESG), is undergoing a series of scenarios that will increase proficiencies defending the ESG against blue-water threats so amphibious forces can launch Marine forces ashore in the littorals. Talisman Saber is a biennial U.S.-Australia bilateral exercise held off the coast of Australia meant to achieve interoperability and strengthen the U.S.-Australia alliance. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Byron C. Linder/Released)170709-N-ZW825-895

    Navy charts massive transformation in shipboard IT as commercial 5G, satellite links join the fleet

    Read more
    GettyImages/DoD/Federal News Network

    Secret-level version of Microsoft 365 rolls out to top Pentagon offices this month

    Read more