The Millennial Generation and National Defense: Attitudes of Future Military and Civilian Leaders

The Millennial Generation and National Defense: Attitudes of Future Military and Civilian Leaders by Morten G. Ender, David E. Rohall and Michael D. Matthews. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2014. Hardback, 101 pages, appendices, notes, bibliography, $67.50. ISBN: 987-1-137-39231-2.The Millennial Generation and National Defense, co-authored by Morten Ender, David Rohall and Michael Matthews, is an ambitious work that seeks to illuminate attitudinal patterns among America's college-going youth. It explores convergences and differences across a diverse span of socio-political attitudes among civilians attending colleges and universities, ROTC cadets enrolled at civilian higher education institutions, and those cadets (and midshipmen) who attend the federal military academies (Army, Navy & Air Force). The formally stated aims of this book are twofold. First, it provides a descriptive summary of millennials and examines this generation's attitudes towards the military institution and military service. Second, it examines whether and to what extent (and to what effect) there exists a civil-military gap between those youth who are affiliated with the military (Academy and ROTC cadets/midshipmen) and those who are not (civilians). The authors use a unique data set that they have collected over more than a decade from scores of higher education institutions (public and private) located in eighteen states around the country. As the book's subtitle indicates, the study focuses on future leaders in society; operationalized as those pursuing higher education, positioning them selves for leadership roles in the civilian and military arenas.The book is nicely organized both by chapter and within chapters. Chapter one defines the millennial generation's broad social, personal, and demographic characteristics, discusses the intersection of millennials and the military, introduces the concept of civil-military gap and its application to this generation, and outlines the ongoing survey project from which this book emerges. Chapter two examines in more detail issues of civic engagement in general, and attitudes toward and propensity to serve in the military more specifically. Chapter three explores millennials' attitudes surrounding both major national defense/security threats and appropriate use of the military at home and abroad. Chapter four explicitly analyzes youth attitudes towards the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how they have changed over time during these protracted campaigns. Chapter five examines diversity issues in the armed forces with a focus on gender and sexual orientation. The concluding chapter discusses the future of the nation's military from the perspectives of millennial college students.The strengths of this book are its unique data, organization, and clear presentation of tables and figures. While the data presented are not representative of all millennial college students, the institutional and geographic breadth from which the data were collected instills confidence in the patterns reported. Having multiple data collections per year also provides robustness to the data when examined over the span of the study's history (total sample = 5,051). …