I have a retired flag officer in the family. He also happens to be one of the smartest people I know. I won’t say more to prove that because although he’s not famous in the least, he would be easily google-able if I gave specifics about his background. He is not MAGA but I know he voted for Trump and would again if that was who is running against a democrat.
It was my experience in my 23 years that most enlisted men never voted at all. This was likely for several reasons:
*It’s inconvenient to vote absentee
*It doesn’t matter who’s running the country because nothing really changes much for those in the military, regardless of who is in office.
*Apathy
*Just don’t give a shit
That is my experience also. That’s despite the fact that every election there are officers assigned to help everyone navigate the different ways of voting depending on their home of record. I voted each time but many didn’t.
It was my perception that the officer ranks were more solidly Republican. The enlisted ranks were still significantly Republican but less so. One factor being the more diverse makeup of enlisted ranks and a larger percentage of minorities that traditionally vote Democrat. Enlisted ranks certainly voted for Obama in greater numbers than any other modern Democrat. I retired during the Bush II administration so I don’t have a feel for it right now.
That is true of all the veterans pages I read. It’s hard to get a feel for the percentages of people who believe that way because they drown out and attack anyone who says different. They all rapidly become echo chambers.
Because the message from the President will be especially when it comes time if we get to that terrible moment where if the President wants to use force against Americans. For example, if there’s another January 6, then he says, “Listen, I’m going to sent in the Army and none of my people are going to get arrested. You’re not going to disperse them; the Capitol Police are not going to arrest these people; and if they want to march into the House then they’re doing to do it. And if there are protests against me I will tell them to shoot people,” you acclimate an institution to getting used to that by issuing these terrible orders and getting them to fulfill them over and over again over time.
I worry that he will just kind of corrode the norms and tradition of the US military…their culture is build on honor and loyalty and duty, and if Trump chips away at that every day with a small number of people at the top I worry about what happens the ultimate moment when Trump says, “You know what, I didn’t lose and election and we are marching to the Capitol,” or “I don’t feel like having any protest against me today.” Remember, he actually wanted to call out troops against the protestors in Washington and his own Secretary of Defense said “That’s a really bad idea, don’t do that.” He won’t make that mistake again. The next Secretary of Defense is going to be somebody who nods and says, ‘That’s a great idea, sir. Let’s get them out there.”
Stranger
I recall (vividly) a morning muster leading up to the 1986 general election when the Chief of the Boat announced that we should all think about the “fact” that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to watch after the interests of the military.
I wasn’t particularly aware of the Hatch Act at the time, but it struck me as kinda improper (even if it wasn’t technically a violation).