When it comes to the demographics of the U.S. military, conventional wisdom alleges the armed forces are a magnet for poorly educated and disadvantaged minorities who enter the service because they lack better options. However, a new Heritage Foundation report debunks those assumptions. According to the study's findings, 95 percent of military officers earned at least a bachelor's degree and more than 98 percent of enlisted members have obtained a high-school degree—numbers far greater than their civilian peers. The report also found that minorities are not overrepresented in the military, with officers and enlisted troops more likely to come from high-income neighborhoods than from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In addition, the data revealed that states with a high recruit-to-population ratio tend to be more conservative politically than states with a low recruit-to-population ratio. Among so-called red states are 23 states with a high military concentration ratio, while only six blue states have a high ratio."