Military-affiliated-individuals (MI) are more likely to develop hearing loss and tinnitus during training and deployment due to noise, ototoxic chemicals, and other events. There have been extensive studies about the incidence, prevalence, and functional impact of tinnitus in MI, but careful comparison of its impact between MI and non-military-individuals (NMI) is understudied. We aimed to compile and compare audiological and tinnitus profiles in MI and NMI. A total of 62 MI and 158 NMI were classified into four sub-groups; (1) normal hearing without tinnitus (NHCON); (2) normal hearing with tinnitus (NHTIN); (3) hearing loss without tinnitus (HLCON); and (4) hearing loss with tinnitus (HLTIN). Each participant underwent complete audiological, speech-in-noise assessments (QuickSIN) and tinnitus profiling. Our overall observations revealed that MIHL_TIN had higher tinnitus-related distress than NMIHL_TINin the relaxation subscale of tinnitus functional index. In MINH_TIN group perception of tinnitus was much louder than the NMINH_TIN. These findings highlight the importance of considering military status when developing assessment and management techniques. Military status had no effect on speech-in-noise scores, in both populations TINNH group outperformed the CONNH, while the TINHL group performed worse than CONHL. Better speech-in-noise performance in NHTIN may suggest heightened selective auditory attention or a potential spotlight phenomenon in this group.