Officers are more conservative than enlisted. True or False?

SMSgt Bryan Raines — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 09:06:14 -0500

According to studies that come out around every election more officers vote conservative or label themselves conservative than enlisted. Is this what you see in the officer and enlisted personnel around you?
EDIT:
I should have mentioned that the studies were based on the declared voting habits of officer and enlisted in private surveys.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 20 at 2015 9:09 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 09:09:23 -0500

True in front of enlisted at work but very liberal when drinking or amongst themselves

Response by Maj Matt Hylton made Feb 20 at 2015 9:36 AM

Maj Matt Hylton — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 09:36:00 -0500

From what I have seen in the AF, I'm probably in the minority. I'm mainly a middle of the road guy with more left leaning views that right leaning views on some issues (i.e. I support abortion, but don't support gun control). I mostly vote Libertarian or Democrat, but do find myself aligning with Republicans sometimes.

Most other officers I've worked with are more conservative, but I think the military is overall more conservative that liberal in general.

If I had to give an WAG:
20% of the officers I've worked with are probably Democrats, but I can't think of any I would label "far left liberal"
40% are probably middle of the road but lean towards Republican
40% straight up Republicans (with a few die hard, far right conservatives in there)

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Feb 20 at 2015 10:17 AM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 10:17:43 -0500

My experience has been the complete opposite. It's the GED's and those from the bible belt states( those tend to have the most abysmal education systems, regardless of level) that tend toward conservatism, while the educated and worldly tend toward more left leaning thought processes..

Response by MSgt Jim Pollock made Feb 20 at 2015 10:29 AM

MSgt Jim Pollock — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 10:29:09 -0500

False. I've seen the full gamut of political stance from both E's and O's. Frankly, I never gave a damn as long as they had my back and did their jobs when it mattered. Made for some spirited debates in the bar post-mission though. Good times!

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Feb 23 at 2015 4:07 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 16:07:46 -0500

I would wager that the higher in rank a member is the higher the odds are they lean to the right.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 23 at 2015 7:44 PM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 19:44:53 -0500

I'd think it was the opposite. During my enlisted years, I felt much more in the minority with my more left leaning views. As an officer, I had more colleagues with similar views. Could be anecdotal but that was my experience.

Response by SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2015 8:34 PM

SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:34:03 -0500

I'd say this probably has more to do with how you were raised than what color your rank is. And if I were a betting man, I'd bet its around 50/50 for both Enlisted and Officers.

Response by LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® made Feb 26 at 2015 9:17 PM

LTC David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 21:17:40 -0500

I think it is very difficult since risk tolerance is based on personality, your past, your training, and a host of other things.

It also depends on what position you hold. It is easier in my opinion for a commander far away from the front to order a unit to take the hill, whereas the soldiers on the front line that have to do may have a different opinion.

Having said this, studies have shown that if you are more educated, you tend to be more risk tolerant. Also when it comes to money, if you are self-made, you tend to be more risk tolerant as well.

Response by SGT Dylan Epp made Mar 23 at 2015 4:52 PM

SGT Dylan Epp — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 16:52:14 -0400

From my experience it's been the opposite. I've only met one enlisted person that is an open liberal while I've met plenty of officers who are certainly as far from conservative as you can get!

Response by Cpl Christopher Bishop made Mar 26 at 2015 3:06 PM

Cpl Christopher Bishop — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:06:50 -0400

Enlisted folks usually enter the military at a younger age, and they have not been as influenced by the political stance of any particular college. I would also guess that if we are a bit more outspoken, it could be (in certain situations) we have less to lose by doing so.

That said, I think all military are "more conservative than not" and this has been tradition.

Personally, I am a Libertarian, and that has been growing within the military as well according to some recent polls including one here on RP....as more and more people get more and more Fed Up with the 2 major parties.

I prefer, however, to NOT be lumped into any one bucket in terms of Conservative vs Liberal or Right vs Left. Id prefer to look at each individual issue and actually allow it to swirl through my brain a moment before forming my opinion. However that, in and of itself, might just be what makes me a bit more generally Conservative than Liberal.

Semper Fi.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 26 at 2015 3:56 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 15:56:02 -0400

I think it depends on of the officer was prior enlisted or not. Most of the officers that I know (that came in as officers from college) are a lot more lenient and laid back than the officers that I know to be prior enlisted. I think prior enlisted officers are more used to the military and how it works versus officers that really don't know much if anything at all about the military because they've never actually experienced it.

Response by SSG Leonard Johnson made Mar 27 at 2015 11:16 PM

SSG Leonard Johnson — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 23:16:10 -0400

I hope they are hahahahahahahaha I can only take so much ka ka poo in the motor pool.....giggles.....just kidding everyone...... I retired in December ;)

Response by COL Charles Williams made Mar 27 at 2015 11:34 PM

COL Charles Williams — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 23:34:17 -0400

I would guess yes. I would say it has more to do with seniority and rank (senior officers and NCOs), vs. a straight split.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2015 12:51 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 00:51:15 -0400

I think the whole force demographically tends to be conservative. In my nearly 9 years in uniform I can only think of one maybe two Officers who were what I would call liberals. On the enlisted side I think it's around the same. I remember in the Battalion I deployed with we had one troop who was known primarily for being a liberal if that tells you anything.

What I think would be interesting is a breakdown of political ideology v. MOS or role. In my experience the staunchest Conservatives have tended to be Combat Arms, while the liberals tended to be support. For example, the one Officer I can think of is branched AG. Likewise, I've met far more liberals in the Air Force and Navy than I have in the USMC or Army.

Response by PFC Mike Mcdermott made Mar 28 at 2015 8:52 PM

PFC Mike Mcdermott — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:52:00 -0400

I don't know about conservative, but 'lame' for sure

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2015 9:40 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 09:40:17 -0400

There are interesting studies on this. Two books to look at are "Arms and the University: Military Presence and the Civic Education of Non-Military Students" and "AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service." These discuss the fracture between universities (particularly those in urban areas and in the northeast and west) and military service.

One can also look at the placement of ROTC battalions throughout the country. NYC has two ROTC battalions. Alabama has six. NYC has a population of 8.5 million; Alabama of slightly under 5 million. Metro Detroit, an area with over 50% of Michigan's population, has two ROTC battalions (one in Ann Arbor and the other in Ypsilanti) while the rest of the state has 4; Detroit has numerous colleges and universities with none.That tells you where the Army, after the introduction of the AVF, felt that their ideological seed corn was.

Over 50% of all officers come from the south east (Roughly Texas east and up north to Virginia). This, however, only accounts for 33% of the population of the country. So, clearly there is both an ideological agreement between the culture of the southeast and the culture of the Army. The book "The New American Militarism: How Americas Are Seduced by War" goes into great detail to explain how the military, after Vietnam, aligned itself ideologically with the increasingly right-wing portion of the Republican party. I think that this goes a long way in explaining some of these issues.

I don't know if Os are more conservative than Es; however, I do know that the military, as an institution, is more conservative than the general populace, a populace which is becoming increasingly more liberal.

Response by SPC Angel Guma made Apr 2 at 2015 7:14 PM

SPC Angel Guma — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:14:02 -0400

Lower enlisted are usually jacked around more with mindless tasks and stupid, demeaning attitudes by anyone higher ranking. That being said, lower enlisted seem to have a greater freedom in truly saying what they think, call it a reverse privilege.

Officers however have to learn how to appear how their superiors WANT them to appear. Either a young officer learns this, or he doesn't and he leaves the military at the earliest possible convenience. I've never seen this otherwise.

But as people move up in rank, be it enlisted or officer, I've never seen it otherwise. The conservative or liberal label are handy tropes. When your superior is a flaming liberal or conservative, its just too easy to create an aura of 'good' on top of your shoulders by packaging exactly what the flaming conservative or liberal wants to hear. The good OERs just come rolling in.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Apr 13 at 2015 4:20 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 16:20:28 -0400

A couple of points. There's merit in age thing. People tend to move right with age. That doesn't mean they become right. Most of the literature I've seen on this topic tends to correlate altruism with reality. We have more of it young and reality grinds it down. There are exceptions, most notably traumatic experiences pushing people well off their center either way.

Careful about saying college is a huge factor. Although lots of liberal contamination, you'd have to take a look at the population that actually signs up. I'd expect many towards the far left of the spectrum are less likely to pursue a military career in favor of other things. There are exceptions of course.

Also long term history shouldn't be directly correlated either. 40 years ago, Blue Dog Democrats were Republicans. The party centers have moved further apart leaving a lot of folk in the middle. That's probably why the Independent population is becoming larger. There's things about both they don't like.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 4:41 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 16:41:17 -0400

I've never seen one of those polls that included Reserve Component respondents and I think that would be interesting.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 8:10 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:10:11 -0400

It seems to me that roughly 10% are liberal, 20% are centrist left leaning, 20% are centrist right leaning and 40% are conservative with roughly 10% being extremely conservative. I don't recall many who were extremely liberal (more liberal than me.) A lot of people who were generally liberal often had conservative views in certain areas (military, abortion, gun control) and many who were conservative often had liberal views in areas (gay rights, civil liberties).

I never noticed a recognizable difference between officers and enlisted when it came to political viewpoints. Although you could predict someones political views more often than not, just by knowing where they were from.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 8:51 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 20:51:46 -0400

I try to not discuss politics at work. Nothing good usually comes of it and like with other personal life decisions, I may not agree with you, but as long as you have my back when I need it, I don't care what you do in your off time (assuming its legal). I don't align with any political party, mainly because I think both parties are essentially the same. The left keeps getting more extreme and the GOP keeps trying to play nice and pander. If I had to pick, I'd probably land between Libertarian and Conservative. I just don't know why we can't follow the Constitution and be done with it. But what do I know.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 13 at 2015 9:10 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 21:10:14 -0400

Initially I'd think that the officers would be more liberal with all that brainwashing at college but if you look at where we've been recruiting for the last decade plus this makes sense. A lot of our enlisted force comes from the areas that receive help from financial aid programs(ie. inner city and rural America). I'd like to see the breakdown between combat vs. noncombat MOS's as well.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 6 at 2015 3:33 PM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 15:33:16 -0400

False for flag officers at least, someone pretty high in the government probably saw to that but I could be wrong

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 7:49 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 07:49:26 -0500

Conservative in the sense of being reserved or emotionally even keeled, then yes.
If you mean "right wing" then I think it's more senior/junior that makes a difference.
Someone once said "If you're under 30 and right wing, you don't have a heart. If you're over 30 and left wing, you don't have a brain." I agree with this 100%.
So, E1-E5, probably left leaning. E6-E9, probably right leaning.
O1-O2/3, left leaning. O3 & up, probably right leaning.
There are always the exceptions though.

Response by Maj William Gambrell made Dec 16 at 2015 12:19 AM

Maj William Gambrell — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 00:19:44 -0500

Tough question to answer. I have three relatives that were enlisted and they are all conservative....as am I. I have also tended to see the hard core enlisted leaders being more conservative. I have also seen a lot of officers that are so PC given the nature of politics in the upper ranks. I tend to believe the more educated people in the military think conservative as a percentage.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 18 at 2015 11:08 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 23:08:41 -0500

Well, my unit is pretty split. I've been liberal for decades (since Bush 41 welcomed the Christian Coalition into the GOP).

Response by SSgt Jim Gilmore made Dec 18 at 2015 11:23 PM

SSgt Jim Gilmore — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 23:23:52 -0500

I tend not to believe polls in general but especially polls like this one. The questions are usually skewed to elicit a certain response and most of the time a different full or just partial set of questions based on the group they are interviewing.

Response by MSgt David Webb made Jan 6 at 2016 5:27 AM

MSgt David Webb — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 05:27:52 -0500

I would agree because officers have a college degree so they have already established theirselves in life before joining whereas a lot kids join with a "get everything I can in 4 years and get out" attitude rather than thinking of how they can serve the military. The liberal "what can I get free" mentality at work.

Response by PO3 David Fries made Jan 6 at 2016 6:49 AM

PO3 David Fries — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 06:49:42 -0500

Maybe because I never made it past E4, but I didn't really know anybody that talked much about their political stances. I know I never thought about my own views until well after I got out.

Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 6 at 2018 10:35 AM

Col Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 10:35:19 -0400

For the most part, I think that is correct.

Response by MAJ Pam Swartz made Jan 3 at 2021 3:01 PM

MAJ Pam Swartz — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 15:01:51 -0500

false

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 30 at 2021 6:53 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:53:59 -0400

I remember that officers, senior enlisted and more educated troops were more likely to be libertarian.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Nov 4 at 2021 11:15 AM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 11:15:49 -0400

That parallels the theory that conservatives are more friendly to the military. Not necessarily true but as one moves up in the military they do tend to embrace that belief.