Population Representation in the Military Services

CNA's Resources and Force Readiness division produces Population Representation in the Military Services (also known as “Pop Rep”) for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. This report, mandated by the Senate Committee on Armed Services in May 1974 and produced every year since, describes the characteristics of U.S. military personnel in order to provide policymakers, the media, and the general public, with comprehensive, reliable, and consistent data tabulations on military personnel.

The most recent version of the study, Pop Rep 2019, is available online here. The report highlights recent and historical personnel trends in the Department of Defense services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force) and the U.S. Coast Guard. It describes demographic characteristics of applicants, accessions, enlisted personnel, and officers and includes information on the socioeconomic characteristics of those accessed into the military in Fiscal Year 2019. (Except where otherwise noted, data are provided by the Defense Manpower Data Center).

Annual versions of the study are available going back to 1997. Click the links below to access each year's report.

Pop Rep Citations

Suggested Reference for Summary Document
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness. Population Representation in the Military Services: Fiscal Year 2019 Summary Report. Published in 2021. Accessed [insert current date, example Dec. 31, 2019]. http://www.cna.org/research/pop-rep.

Suggested Reference for Individual Table
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness. Population Representation in the Military Services: Fiscal Year 2019. Appendix D: Historical Data Tables. Table D-2: Annual Civilian Unemployment Rate by Age Group, 1973-2019. Published in 2021. [insert current date, example Dec. 31, 2019]. http://www.cna.org/research/pop-rep.