(Washington, DC) The State Data Center fall report features data on the defense manpower of our population. The Department of Defense (DOD) manpower consists of approximately 1,427,000 personnel distributed among the various branches including the army, air force, navy, and marines. The majority of military personnel on active duty are in Iraq. Most of the federal budget outlay for defense is allocated to operations and maintenance.

This report focuses on selected demographic information on the approximately 1.4 million men and women (0.5 percent of the population) comprising the United States defense manpower through 2004. It provides a variety of data on national security including data on national defense and its human and financial costs for both active and veteran status personnel. The data presented were obtained from the US Census Bureau which in turn listed their principal sources as the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Management and Budget.