Military & Veterans

Overview The public broadly supports the military’s decision to lift restrictions on women in combat. Two-thirds (66%) support allowing women in the military to serve in ground units that engage in close combat, while just 26% are opposed. Opinion on this question is little changed from a Washington Post/ABC News survey two years ago. The […]

In December 2011, the Pew Research Center examined the roles and attitudes of female military veterans and found that, while many combat roles were withheld from female veterans, women in the military did report experiencing combat and had many of the same issues as men during their transition back into civilian life.

Survey Details: Conducted Sep, 2011 | File Release Date: 27 Nov 12

Survey Details: Conducted Jul-Sep, 2011 File Release Date: 27 Nov 12

The women who serve in today’s military differ from the men who serve in a number of ways.

More than eight years after U.S. troops entered Iraq, the United States military – with the exception of a few troops connected with the U.S. Embassy – will leave the country by the end of 2011.

Military service is difficult, demanding and dangerous. But returning to civilian life also poses challenges for the men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Whether or not they have served, most Americans have family members who have been in the armed forces. But as the size of the military shrinks, those ties may be diminishing.

One out of every ten veterans alive today was seriously injured at some point while serving in the military, and three-quarters of those injuries occurred in combat.