Percent Military Deployed Abroad Exceeds Vietnam Era

According to Heritage Foundation data, 27.1 percent of all US troops were stationed abroad from 2003-2004. That compares with 26.8 percent during the Vietnam War (1965-1973) and is the largest percentage since 1970 (29.7 percent). From 1991-2000, only 15.4 percent of America's military was deployed abroad. We have slightly less than half the number in the military today (1.4 million) relative to the average during Vietnam (2.9 million). However, during Vietnam, we also had the draft. View Chart.