WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama has struggled with sagging approval ratings over the last year, but the commander-in-chief’s numbers have hit an all-time low among active-duty troops.
Just 15% of active-duty servicemembers gave Obama a thumbs up in the annual Military Times survey and more than half — 55% — say they disapprove of Obama’s job as commander-in-chief. The President has struggled to gain the approval of troops throughout his time in office, but these numbers reflect are a new low for Obama, who finished his first year in office with a 35% approval figure and only 4 in 10 disapproving, according to the Military Times survey. President Obama’s approval rating in the general population is much higher, though still well below 50 percent. In the most recent CNN / ORC poll, he got the approval of 44% of Americans.
The Military Times survey of more than 2,200 active-duty troops come as Obama wrapped up his sixth year at the helm of the armed forces and despite his efforts to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and end combat operations in Afghanistan.
But Obama was also tested by the rise of ISIS, the militant group that now controls swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, which some military experts pin to the Obama administration’s failure to strike a deal with the Iraqi government to leave a residual force in that country.
Troop morale has also slumped during the Obama administration, falling to 56% this year from 91% who were satisfied with their quality of life in 2009. More than half of American troops believe they are underpaid today.
The President’s barely double-digit approval rating among active-duty troops also comes amid a series of challenges to traditional military structure — from allowing gays to openly serve in the military to ending the ban on women in combat units.
Support among active-duty troops for allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the military has grown to 60% three years after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was reversed. About 41% of servicemembers said some combat roles should be off-limits for women.
Obama’s unpopularity among troops comes with sinking support for and trust in both major political parties. Nearly half of the active duty servicemembers surveyed said they believe both the Republican and Democratic parties have become less supportive of military issues.
Only about 1 in 10 said the two parties “have the armed forces’ best interests at heart,” according to the Military Times.
The survey revealed another interesting trend in troops’ political identities, revealing that fewer identify as Republicans and more are calling themselves libertarians or independents today.
But that hasn’t stopped them from missing their previous commander-in-chief, President George W. Bush. About two-thirds of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans said Bush was a good commander in chief compared to 42% for Obama, according to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll in April.
