Does the VETSTAT variable include those who were in the reserve or national guard? What if they are still in the reserve/national guard?
The comparability tab for VETSTAT details how veteran status was determined across CPS samples. In particular, it states that:
In August 2005 and later samples, respondents are asked whether they ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.
From my understanding, reserve and national guard members are not active duty unless they have been mobilized or deployed for service. Someone who was or currently is in the reserve or national guard but has never been put on active duty should have a response of VETSTAT = 1 (“No service”). However, the data from the CPS is self-reported and people may respond to questions in ways that don’t strictly follow these definitions. Note too that those currently on active duty are not included in the CPS data.
You might try using the CPS Veterans Supplement (administered annually in August) to identify reserve or national guard members. The supplement includes the variable VGUARDCUR that identifies those who are currently a member of the reserve or national guard; refer to the full list of veteran supplement variables. A major caveat for this approach is that the supplement only samples those who responded that they had previously been on active duty in VETSTAT. Someone who has never been on active duty would have VGUARDCUR = 99 (“Not in universe”) even if they are currently a member of the reserve or national guard.