As a child of a career naval officer and a Navy veteran who served over 20 years, I always reach out to other vets, or they to me, and immediately feel the camaraderie of someone who has shared values and rules and regulations, having been in the service. And, yes, we vets enjoyed protecting our great democracy and its freedoms. We are not apt to talk politics, but rather tell sea stories about our military tours.
The demographics of U.S. veterans have changed dramatically over the years including counting women and the definition of military service. For instance, in 1890 men (only) who served in peacetime, or who did not experience combat or service overseas, were not counted in our Census as veterans. Not until 1940 did the Census Bureau count men who had served in peacetime. Not until 1980 did the Bureau count women as veterans. I now understand why for some time I asked myself whether I qualified as a veteran upon retirement in 1980.
In 2005 the American Community Survey took over defining veterans, and in 2022 the survey counted 14.5 million men and 1.7 million women (total 16.2 million). Today the American Community Survey lists four types of veterans:
— Federally protected vets, including disabled, recently separated vets, campaign badge vets and Armed Forces Service Medal vets.
— Retired vets who have served at least 20 years, and those medically retired.
— Combat vets.
— War vets (individuals who deployed to a war zone).
Two demographic trends should prevail: The number of veterans will decline, as America loses our World War II vets. From 2000 to 2015, the number of vets declined by about one-third from 26.4 million to 18 million. And the number of women vets will rise. As noted above, women were 1.7 million, or 9%, of vets in 2022, and they are projected to jump to 17% by 2040.
Veterans have all signed a contract with their respective service branch and raised their right hand to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Many of us have faced the fact that sometimes our duty stations were not what we had intended. We were told by our detailer the needs of the Navy/service come before our individual needs. I served in three assignments that were not my first, second or third choice and learned to deal with this fact or ask for a transfer after a year.
While on active duty, an individual is subject to the laws of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as well as the rule of law in the United States as a citizen. The Uniform Code of Military Justice is administered by the commanding officer or equivalent of each unit.
Veterans also know, as taught in military training, the meaning of respect for their fellow shipmates, and to use “sir” or “ma’am,” as appropriate. Civility is a longstanding tradition in all the services, including respect for the nation’s history of fighting against our enemies.
Relative to respect, comity and laws, each military service now has a Code of Conduct. For instance, the Navy’s Code of Conduct has three values: honor, courage and commitment.
The Navy Code of Conduct says: The day-to-day duty of every Navy man and woman is to work together as a team to improve the quality of our people and ourselves.
Because our military is conservative by its nature and missions, so too both active-duty members and veterans have always voted for the conservatism of the classic Republican Party by a wide margin. What the voting breakdown was in the 2024 election, with the new values and leadership of the modern Trump Republican Party, will take some post-election analysis. I anticipate the margin may be less in that the former president has been disrespectful to many senior military officials, actions which did not set well with military active-duty personnel, retirees and families.
Veterans, I salute and honor your service to America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Coye, a native San Diegan, is a retired naval commanding officer. Her specialties were Intelligence/National Security and Human Resource Management. She lives in Pacific Beach.