Table 1. Baseline characteristics of soldiers by Army specialization, the Millennium Cohort Study*.
| General Purpose Forces (n = 4,552) n (%) | Ranger Qualified (n = 303) n (%) | Special Forces (n = 537) n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 176 (3.9) | 10 (3.3) | 19 (3.5) |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 255 (5.6) | 21 (6.9) | 13 (2.4) |
| White, non-Hispanic | 3,703 (81.4) | 247 (81.5) | 479 (89.2) |
| Hispanic | 326 (7.2) | 18 (5.9) | 18 (3.4) |
| Other | 92 (2.0) | 7 (2.3) | 8 (1.5) |
| Marital status | |||
| Married | 2,768 (60.8) | 208 (68.7) | 355 (66.1) |
| Not married | 1,784 (39.2) | 95 (31.4) | 182 (33.9) |
| Education | |||
| High school degree or less | 1,107 (24.3) | 30 (9.9) | 32 (6.0) |
| Some college, no degree | 1,759 (38.6) | 101 (33.3) | 169 (31.5) |
| Associate’s degree | 321 (7.1) | 20 (6.6) | 52 (9.7) |
| Bachelor’s degree | 1,050 (23.1) | 116 (38.3) | 215 (40.0) |
| Master’s degree or higher | 315 (6.9) | 36 (11.9) | 69 (12.9) |
| Age (years) | |||
| 17–24 | 1,322 (29.0) | 48 (15.8) | 70 (13.0) |
| 25–34 | 2,022 (44.4) | 161 (53.1) | 281 (52.3) |
| 35–44 | 911 (20.0) | 81 (26.7) | 149 (27.8) |
| 44+ | 297 (6.5) | 13 (4.3) | 37 (6.9) |
| Military Service | |||
| Service component | |||
| Active duty | 2,374 (52.2) | 246 (81.2) | 427 (79.5) |
| Reserves | 2,178 (47.9) | 57 (18.8) | 110 (20.5) |
| Pay grade | |||
| Enlisted | 3,674 (80.7) | 172 (56.8) | 340 (63.3) |
| Officer | 878 (19.3) | 131 (43.2) | 197 (36.7) |
| Recent deployment experiencea | |||
| Not deployed | 1,328 (29.2) | 71 (23.4) | 94 (17.5) |
| Deployed, no combat | 566 (12.4) | 32 (10.6) | 63 (11.7) |
| Deployed with combat | 2,658 (58.4) | 200 (66.0) | 380 (70.8) |
| Baseline Healthb | |||
| Mental functioning | |||
| High | 624 (13.7) | 59 (19.5) | 126 (23.5) |
| Medium | 3,182 (69.9) | 215 (71.0) | 378 (70.4) |
| Low | 746 (16.4) | 29 (9.6) | 33 (6.2) |
| Physical functioning | |||
| High | 660 (14.5) | 56 (18.5) | 93 (17.3) |
| Medium | 3,165 (69.5) | 211 (69.6) | 399 (74.3) |
| Low | 727 (16.0) | 36 (11.9) | 45 (8.4) |
*All characteristics differed significantly (p<0.05) by specialization.
aBased on deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, or Operation New Dawn and self-report of combat experiences prior to baseline.
bBased on mental component score and physical component score, which have been categorized as low (<15th), medium (15th to 85th), and high (>85th).