The annual Harris Poll measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations indicates that 52 percent of Americans think military officers have “very great” prestige. Harris Interactive interviewed a sample of 1,010 adults via telephone in July, and the poll found that firefighters, scientists, teachers, doctors, and nurses are the other five professions at least half of all Americans feel are the most prestigious. Firefighters rank first, with 61 percent of the public saying they have “very great” prestige.
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.