Yes, but I read somewhere that the south, plains states, and mountain west states provided the bulk of the military. For the south, it is/was a way for poor kids to get out of poverty. They can get college education paid, or money for a down payment to buy a house, etc. My son joined the national guard several years ago, he got his college paid for. The second time he got enough sign up bonus for his second 6 years to pay a down payment for his house. I know this is true for other more liberal states, but as I said, a lot more percentage wise came from the states I mentioned. I have a friend who came from upstate New York, small town outside Waterton, who joined the Army back in the late 70's, early 80's, but ended up down here. Anyway, the percent of total population joining the military was higher in red states. I know, my friend tole me that NYC ran the state of New York, because of it's huge population. Many of the blue counties in the deep south are not heavily populated, but the majority of the population is minority based. Some counties shown in blue in Alabama have less that 20,000 people but they are 80-90% minority in farming counties. Not always big cities.
