For those curious, I made a quick excel spreadsheet of the data provided. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_3pASjRsRXawSF4BgmSU7Ugm0i2r_rDyw-cUaR4aYuc/e

For those curious, I made a quick excel spreadsheet of the data provided. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_3pASjRsRXawSF4BgmSU7Ugm0i2r_rDyw-cUaR4aYuc/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_3pASjRsRXawSF4BgmSU... A supermajority of recruits (65.7%) comes from the South and Midwest [1]. More recent sources (Statemaster's data is from 2004) confirms that not only the South and Midwest still form the majority in recruiting, but also forms majorities in active duty service men and other key metrics [2]. I would continue tabulating and analyzing, but at this point, I'll take the secondary sources at their word. [3] To be clear, I am not advocating for rural-over-urban or south-over-north or some-weird-political-agenda. Instead, I would caution against minimizing the contributions of these states to our (the US's) national defense. Especially in the South, military service is, not unduly, enshrined as a part of their culture and identity. [1]: This graphic in addition to the state's individual wikipedia articles guided how the groupings of the spreadsheet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States#/media/File:Census_Regions_and_Division_of_the_United_States.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_... [2]: http://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Reports/2014-Demographics-Report.pdf http://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Reports/2014... [3]: http://www.ozy.com/acumen/why-the-us-military-is-so-southern/72100 http://www.ozy.com/acumen/why-the-us-military-is-so-southern..., http://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-is-not-representative-of-country-2014-7 http://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-is-not-representa... And so forth. There are a lot of articles about the overrepresentation of the South and Midwest in military demographics.