Defense secretary warns most Americans detached from war, feel military is service for others

Gates chides America for apathy

DURHAM, N.C. — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says most Americans have grown too detached from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and see military service as “something for other people to do.”

In a speech Wednesday at Duke University, Gates says it is this kind of disconnect that has steeply driven up the costs of maintaining an all-volunteer force.

Because fewer Americans see military service as their duty, Gates says troops today shoulder too heavy a burden and the Defense Department has to spend more money to keep them from quitting.

Gates said the nation needs a more equitable system of military service that “reflects the realities of this century.” The Pentagon chief did not propose a solution.