He began his academic career in the sociology department at the University of Michigan in 1966, and served as director of graduate studies, associate chair of the department, and director of the Center for Research on Social Organization.

in 1973, he took a leave of absence from Michigan to direct the sociology program at the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

In the early years of the all-volunteer force (1973–75) he directed the army's sociological research program.

In 2007, he won the Morris Janowitz Career Achievement Award from the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces & Society.

[3] His most notable works include Recruiting for Uncle Sam,[4] The Postmodern Military (co-authored with Charles Moskos and John Allen Williams), Peacekeepers and Their Wives (coauthored with Mady Wechsler Segal),[5] and the four volume anthology, Military Sociology (co-authored with James Burk)[6] He worked with the White House during the Obama administration on military spouse issues, has frequently testified to Congress on diversity in the military and social science contributions to national security, and has been a consultant to several federal agencies.