The conspiratorial minded might be inclined to think this is why liberals like sending soldiers on overseas missions.
The Associated Press reports:
RALEIGH, N.C. — Most of the military personnel deployed from North Carolina bases during the U.S. Census were tallied for other parts of the country, denying the state a congressional seat and future tax dollars, according to an Associated Press review.
The Census usually counts troops at the base where they live and work, but the government decided decades ago to tally deployed personnel toward their listed home state, which often refers to where the service member grew up or has family.
North Carolina officials estimate more than 40,000 troops were deployed from the state’s military bases around the time of the Census one year ago, but only 12,200 of the nation’s overseas military personnel listed North Carolina as their home state, according to Defense Department data provided to AP.
The gap of some 28,000 troops was costly: The state was about 15,000 people shy of getting an extra congressional seat from Minnesota. Those seats are doled out based on population figures in order to ensure fair representation in the U.S. House.”
Read the whole piece at the Marine Corps Times.