How did 1990s America view their military?

[JakeWIlls92]

How did the middle and upper classes of America see the military? Did they view it as something only men from the working class and inner city did? I did know someone who was a young man in the 80s who got busted for selling pot and was given the choice between going to jail or serving in the military. He ended up becoming a paratrooper who was deployed to Panama and the Gulf War.

Could an high achieving student from an affluent family from Beverly Hills or Orange County who was involved in sports, had an high GPA, and was popular with both students and faculty end up doing ROTC and go through a military career from the 90s to the early 2000s unscathed? They would probably have to be an Air Force or Naval intel officer.

 

[Correll]

Different people had different views. Generally Americas were pretty happy with the people that won the Cold War, and then the Persian Gulf War.

If you go back and read stuff written during the time, either articles about military operations like the lead up, or even how military people were presented in fiction at the time, you can get an idea how they were viewed.


Two of my best friends were in the reserves during that time. One eventually dropped out, and the other did transfer over to Air Force for some reason, and found it more to his liking. Not out of any negative feelings or events in the Army, but for reasons of career path.

 

[Tijn Von Ingersleben]

The population has become extremely militarized over the past 30 years. This all began with the first Gulf War.
I served 25 years in the Air Force, joining in 1994. As I rose through the enlisted ranks I knew people from all strata. I knew a couple of people (though just a couple) who were the children of millionaires.
For the most part however, the enlisted ranks were/are populated by people of working class backgrounds. These are generally from economically depressed areas, like the rust belt, and the rural south.
Believe it or not, officers are no different.

 

[Shawnee_b]

Don't know about upper and middle, I was always "no class"

Joined 1972, favorable views.