Population Representation 2004 - Active Component Enlisted Force

ACTIVE COMPONENT ENLISTED FORCE

Marital Status. Every year, a much smaller percentage of first-time enlisted recruits are married compared to enlisted Servicemembers. By the end of the first term of service (typically four years), approximately 42 percent of male enlisted members have become married. [Footnote 7] Trends in marital status of active duty members are shown in Figure 3.4. The proportion of married enlisted members declined from FY 1977 (50 percent) to FY 1980 (47 percent). In FY 1981 the proportion began to increase until a peak of 57 percent in FY 1994. Since FY 1994, the proportion of married members has dropped to 50 percent in FY 2004. Marital status varies by Service. Air Force members are most likely to be married (56 percent), while Marines are least likely to be married (41 percent).

Figure 3.4. Percentage of Active Component enlisted members who were married, by Service, FYs 1974–2004.

The percentages of FY 2004 Active Component enlisted married males and females are shown by Service in Table 3.6 and by age in Appendix Table B-23. Proportionally, more Servicemen were married than Servicewomen (51 and 43 percent, respectively). The only Service where these proportions are not evident is the Marine Corps where only 42 percent of men and 40 percent of women are married. Similarly, more civilian men were married than civilian women (52 versus 49 percent, respectively). The proportion of married Servicemen was slightly smaller than married 18- to 44-year-old men in the civilian population (51 and 52 percent, respectively). The proportion of married Servicewomen was lower than that of women in the comparable civilian population (43 and 49 percent, respectively).

Table 3.6. FY 2004 Active Component Enlisted Members Who Were Married, by Gender and Service, and Married Civilians in the Labor Force (Percent)
Gender	Army	Navy	Marine Corps	Air Force	DoD	Married Civilians in Labor Force*
Male	49.1	52.5	41.5	57.8	50.9	51.8
Female	41.9	37.7	40.2	48.7	43.0	48.8
Total	48.0	50.4	41.4	56.0	49.8	51.4
*Married civilians refer to married 18-44 year olds in the labor force. Also see Appendix Table B-23 (Age by Marital Status and Gender). Source: Civilian data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey File, September 2004.

The percentage of married military women has changed significantly since FY 1973. [Footnote 8] At that time women constituted 2 percent of military members. Military women were not expected to be married; retention directives implicitly encouraged separation of married enlisted women. In FY 1973, 18 percent of military women were married, increasing to 36 percent in FY 1978 and to 43 percent in FY 2004.

During and after the Persian Gulf War, questions were raised regarding the deployment of both parents in a dual-service marriage (i.e., a marriage wherein both husband and wife are military members). The proportion of members in each Service who are married and the proportion of those married who are members of a dual-service marriage are shown in Table 3.7. Larger proportions of men than women are married, but significantly greater proportions of women are members of dual-service marriages (51 percent of married women versus 8 percent of married men; Table 3.7). The Marine Corps has the greatest variance, with 6 percent of married men but 65 percent of married women in dual-service marriages. Proportionally, more Air Force personnel are members of dual-service marriages (22 percent). Across the Services, 14 percent of enlisted members are in dual-service marriages.

Table 3.7. FY 2004 Active Component Enlisted Personnel Who Were Married, and in Dual-Service Marriages, by Gender and Service (Number and Percent)
		Married		Married Who Were In Dual-Service Marriages
Gender	End-Strength	Number	Percent	Number*	Percent**
ARMY
Male	353,154	173,286	49.1	9,879	5.7
Female	60,361	25,281	41.9	9,597	38.0
Total	413,515	198,567	48.0	19,476	9.8
NAVY
Male	268,575	141,066	52.5	8,236	5.8
Female	45,318	17,074	37.7	8,288	48.5
Total	313,893	158,140	50.4	16,524	10.4
MARINE CORPS
Male	148,724	61,740	41.5	3,378	5.5
Female	9,654	3,883	40.2	2,536	65.3
Total	158,378	65,623	41.4	5,914	9.0
AIR FORCE
Male	238,880	137,993	57.8	20,075	14.5
Female	59,436	28,970	48.7	18,178	62.7
Total	298,316	166,963	56.0	38,253	22.4
DoD
Male	1,009,333	514,085	50.9	41,568	8.1
Female	174,769	75,208	43.0	38,599	51.3
Total	1,184,102	589,293	49.8	80,167	13.6
* There are some differences between the number of males and females reporting dual-service marriages. ** These percentages reflect the proportion of married enlisted members who are married to a Servicemember. For example, 9,879 male Army enlisted personnel are in dual-service marriages. That is, 5.7 percent of married male Army enlisted members (173,286) are in dual-service marriages.

[Footnote 7] Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), Family Status and Initial Term of Service, Volume I—Summary (Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense [Personnel and Readiness], December 1993). [back to paragraph]

[Footnote 8] Department of Defense, Population Representation in the Military Services: Fiscal Year 1989 (Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense [Force Management and Personnel], July 1990). [back to paragraph]

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