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I use data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth to examine the relationship between military service and marital timing for white men and black men during the 1980s. I use information about active-duty and reserve-duty service as well as veteran status to implement strong controls for selectivity. I find that active-duty military service increases the probability of first marriage for both whites and blacks. In part, this relationship is due to positive selectivity into the military and, for whites, to greater income and economic stability. Above and beyond the effects of selectivity, income, and economic stability, the effect of active-duty military service is particularly strong for black men.

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the relationship between service in the All Volunteer Force (AVF) military and educational attainment. Through the use of fixed-effects estimators, the author generated estimates of the effect of military service on the highest grade of school completed by men that are purged of the confounding effects of constant unmeasured household-specific and person-specific variables. He also implemented another series of controls for selectivity involving potential time-varying factors by comparing active-duty veterans to reserve-duty veterans and nonveterans who at some time indicated their intentions to enter the military. The results indicate that there is considerable diversity in the effect of military service among veterans according to such variables as education prior to service, score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, branch of service, length of service, age at entry into the military, and race. Overall, however, veterans of the AVF receive less education than their civilian counterparts, and this educational gap tends to grow over time. (Contains 3 tables and 11 notes.)

Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Young Men for 1966-81, this study examined the effect of military service on the highest grade of schooling completed. Fixed-effects estimators were used to generate estimates of the effect of military service on the schooling trajectories of veterans and nonveterans that are independent of unmeasured household-specific and person-specific factors that may bias the relationship. The results indicate that veterans educational profiles differ from those of nonveterans. The veteran-nonveteran difference in schooling is substantial at the time veterans are discharged from the military (on average, a deficit of about one year) but diminishes thereafter (on average, to about a half year). The results also indicate that the effect of veteran status varies according to draft status, schooling prior to military service, and age at entry into the military but not race.

Using data taken from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we examine the relationship between military service and contact with the criminal justice system. Drawing on the life course concept of a turning point, we show that military service does little to affect the risk of being arrested or being convicted of crimes involving violence or destructive behavior, while at the same time significantly reducing the risk of being arrested or being convicted of non-violent crimes. We find no evidence that service in a combat zone alters these relationships. Our results demonstrate how participation in a large-scale institution can serve as a turning point, altering the life course trajectories of young persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that enlistees and veterans in the United States are more likely to use alcohol than civilians. However, most of this research is potentially biased in that it often does not employ control variables (other than age) and is based on cross-sectional data. Much of this research also fails to consider the relationship between military service and alcohol use among women. Using longitudinal data taken from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, we investigate the relationship between military service and alcohol consumption employing a fixed-effects approach. We find that military service appears to encourage young men to consume alcohol. It is also the case that the effect of military service is not limited to the time that men spend in the military given that male veterans are also more likely to consume alcohol than are comparable nonveterans. We find, however, that women who serve, both enlistees and veterans, are less likely to drink than their civilian counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this research note, the rapid decline of the veteran population in the United States from 1980 to 2010 is outlined. The decline in the veteran population has been accompanied by an increasing concentration of veterans in smaller, more rural counties, often surrounding military bases. The result is that there has been a consistent increase in the residential segregation of veterans from the nonveteran population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I explore the relationship between active-duty military service and self-reported health measured at age 40. Based on selectivity, veterans of active-duty service might be expected to have better health than civilians. Using data taken from the NLSY-79, I show that this is not the case. Although veterans of reserve-duty service, and nonveterans who passed the military’s physical exam for entrance into the military report better physical health, active-duty veterans do not. The lower than expected self-reported health of active-duty veterans cannot be explained by differences on confounding variables such as income, education, and marital status. In addition, the lower physical health of these veterans cannot be explained by differences in health-related behaviors such as excessive alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and body mass index. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, we examine the long-term implications of military service for men’s income. We show strong variations in the effect of military service according to race and education. We do so while considering the effect of military service on the income trajectories of men and including a series of controls for selectivity. We find that while serving in the military, young men from disadvantaged backgrounds earn more than their civilian counterparts. Upon discharge, however, the income premium associated with military service tends to dissipate, and for White veterans with at least a high school degree, an income deficit results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article examines the life-course sequencing hypothesis that marriage before military service has a greater disruptive effect on marital stability than marriage during or after military service. Compulsory military service during times of war is one of the most pervasive historic events that has altered young people's life-course pathways and outcomes over the last century. The article, firstly, describes the timing of marriage and the sequencing of marriage relative to military service for Vietnam veterans, Vietnam-era veterans, and nonveterans. Secondly, the hypothesis that the sequencing of marriage prior to military service for Vietnam veterans increased the propensity to divorce has been tested. Using event-history data from a 13-year panel study of 2,857 White males from Washington State high schools in 1966, it has been noted that Vietnam combat veterans and Vietnam-era veterans married at the same rate as nonveterans. Marriages initiated before or during military service in Vietnam did not have a significant negative impact on long-term marital stability. Marrying for the first time after military service, however, increased marital stability.

A large body of research has established that combat has negative effects on the mental health of soldiers, resulting in PTSD and a wide range of related mental health problems. However, very little research examines what effects non-combat military service may have on the mental health of men. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) we show that men who serve on active duty, and do not see combat, are less likely to experience depressive symptoms than their nonveteran and reserve duty counterparts, although this effect tends to dissipate after discharge from the military. We suggest several mechanisms through which active duty military service may act to reduce the likelihood of developing depressive symptoms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]