Stuttering and the Military

Stuttering affects the speech of one out of every 100 adults. Therefore, military personnel are likely to encounter people who stutter within their workforce or among new recruits. People who stutter can make extremely valuable contributions to the military. Unfortunately, skills and talents are sometimes overlooked or under-utilized because of misconceptions and negative stereotyping about stuttering. For an individual to be judged solely on the basis of fluency is not only unfair to the person who stutters – it can be a real skill loss to the military.

This brochure is intended to provide information about stuttering for military, supervisors, recruiters, and interviewers. It will address frequently asked questions to clear up some common misunderstandings about stuttering.

Thanks to William Parry, Rachel Resk, Shea Quinn, Pamela Mertz, Matt, Murtha, Michael Molino, and John Brock for their input on this brochure.