Various organizations and committees have worked to get veterans into public office, as servicemembers are often well-suited to positions in government. For example, VoteVets.org, a political action committee, was launched to help veterans navigate the election process and gain more visibility among their constituencies. However, few officials had spoken out about the fact that so few jobs within the security arm of the government have been filled by veterans until more recently.
MilitaryTimes reported that Chuck Hagel, the former Defense Secretary for the United States, spoke at an event regarding this strange shortage of veterans in national security departments. Not only was Hagel concerned about the fact that routine decisions were not being made by individuals who had served in the military, but that the highest levels of office are also witnessing a lack of veterans in the mix.
"When you look at the presidential candidates today, not one is a veteran," Hagel affirmed, according to MilitaryTimes. "Our current president and vice president are not veterans. The entire senior White House security staff, none are veterans. That doesn't mean they're bad people, that doesn't mean they're not smart, that doesn't mean they don't care about this country. But there is something missing here. And at a time when everything is hair-triggered, everything is nitro glycerine, and miscalculations can lead to a lot of trouble, we need veterans' input."
At the end of the day, the source pointed out that the rate of Congress members who are veterans has dropped from 70 percent in 1970 to 20 percent today. Perhaps instituting more programs to encourage veterans returning from overseas to run for public office might begin to balance these figures out in a more organic fashion.