Millennials and the military: The emerging civil-military gap

The focus of this project is to understand the impact of the Millennial generational persona on the future of defence policy in Canada. Using focus groups and survey data, this project examines the perspectives that Millennial students have about defence issues and military organizations such as the CAF and NATO. Through this examination, it appears that Millennials are distinct from older generations on many defence issues including their evaluation and awareness of the CAF and NATO and how they understand and prioritize threats. Due to this, it is likely that the civil-military gap between civil and military society will grow as Millennials become more influential in society. Additionally, this project examines the relationship between interaction and awareness with the CAF and NATO and Millennial evaluation of these organizations. The findings suggest that interaction with the CAF and NATO has a strong impact on evaluation and awareness of military organizations.