Service members’
job satisfaction still
high, survey shows
By Robert Hodierne
Senior managing editor
Despite growing disaffection
with the war in Iraq, members of
the U.S. armed forces remain contented with their jobs.
With a startling consistency, 86
percent of those responding to the
Military Times Poll say they are
satisfied with their job, a number
that hasn’t varied more than two
points in the four years the poll
has been asking the question.
When pollsters ask Americans
in general that question, they get
similar numbers. A USA
Today/Gallup poll last summer,
for example, found 89 percent
were satisfied with their jobs.
When asked to rate their overall
military quality of life, fewer than
10 percent rated it poor or very
poor. And that number, too, has
remained level since the war
began.
By large majorities, those responding:
Are satisfied with their family
lives and the time they spend with
their family.
Would sign up again if given
the choice.
Would recommend a military
career to others, including their
own children.
Are not worried about their finances.
Part of the explanation for these
upbeat assessments may stem
from the nature of the population
being surveyed. The average mem
ber of the sample — active-duty
subscribers to the Military Times
newspapers — is older (36 years
old) and more senior (15 years’ ser
vice) than an average member of
the overall force. These are men
and women who have bought into
the military lifestyle — and re
main satisfied with that choice.
Professor David Segal, director
of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, said the high
morale reflected the nature of the
group being surveyed.
“This is the career force. They’re
not apprentice troops,” he said.
“The troops have maintained
their level of professionalism.”
The two-thirds of the respon
dents who said they’d sign up
again today if they had to make
that choice cited patriotism as the
main reason. That was followed
closely by pension. The 21 percent
who said they would not sign up
cited poor base facilities and fre
quent deployments as their
biggest gripes.
Finally, 63 percent think that
today’s troops are the best ever.
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