thedrifter
07-30-07, 05:59 AM
Marines concerned over minority enlistment
By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY ---- Top Marine Corps officials have expressed concern over a decline in minority enlistments, blaming at least part of the decrease on the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said last week that there had been a decline in enlistment among blacks and that Latino enlistment had fluctuated in recent years. He said the wars ---- and hesitation on the part of parents and others who influence young people's decisions to join the military ---- are possible explanations for the downward trend.
"There's a war on, and people aren't as quick to recommend military enlistment," Johnson said.
Department of Defense statistics show that the percentage of black recruits for all services has dropped from 20 percent in 2000 to about 13 percent last year. In the Marines, the percentage of black recruits has dipped from about 13 percent in 2000 to 7.6 percent in 2006.
The percentage of Latinos serving has fallen slightly in the Marines but has risen in the military overall, according to government figures.
During a recent speech in San Diego, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told officers gathered at the annual National Naval Officers Association that the numbers are "not a good-news story," according to a story in the Marine Corps Times.
The military is often held as a model of racial integration and economic opportunity for various racial and ethnic groups. Conway said in a recent interview that the Marines have kept a diverse force but expressed concern that the enlistment trend may lead to problems in the future.
"What we have seen is, really, in all three ethnic groups, a ... declining propensity to join. Our recruiters are aware of that," Conway told the Associated Press. "I've tasked our recruiters with ensuring that our minority percentages stay strong."
He said he wants the Marine Corps "to roughly parallel the ethnic makeup of our country. I think that's what our country would expect of our military."
Of the 288 million people living in the United States in 2005, 12 percent were black, 14.5 percent were Latino and 4 percent were Asian, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Not everyone agrees there is a problem looming.
Tim Kane, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research organization in Washington, said the military continues to be a racially diverse force.
"I don't find a real problem with the demographics," Kane said. "The bottom line is, the military does a pretty good job of being color blind."
Kane analyzed demographic data for military enlistees from 2003 to 2005 in a report called "Who are the Recruits?" He looked at recruits' household income, level of education, regional origin and race and ethnicity.
The data indicate that "U.S. military recruits are more similar than dissimilar to the American youth population," according to the report. "The slight differences are that wartime U.S. military enlistees are better educated, wealthier and more rural on average than their civilian peers."
The report was assembled in response to criticisms that minorities and low-income communities were overrepresented in the military.
Pentagon data obtained by the Associated Press shows mixed results on the racial diversity of recruits.
The number of Latinos joining the active-duty military and reserves for all four services grew from about 27,000 in 2003 ---- the year the war in Iraq began ---- to more than 33,000 in 2006. However, Marine statistics show that the number of Latinos serving in this branch declined from 23,000 in 2001 to about 22,000 this year.
Marine officials say part of the military's strength lies in its diversity.
"It's America's Marine Corps and it should look like America," Johnson said. "We're stronger as a country because we are diverse, and we're a stronger military because we're diverse."
But what the military sees as strength, some see as a reliance on minority and low-income communities to fill its ranks.
Jorge Mariscal, a UC San Diego professor of Latino studies and a Vietnam War veteran, said Latinos and low-income students are lured by recruiters with distorted images of the military. He is part of an Encinitas-based group called Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities that acts as a counterpoint to military recruiters.
"The question is: Who's really serving and what economic class is being seduced into the military?" Mariscal said.
Aline Quester, a researcher with the Center for Naval Analysis, a nonprofit research organization specializing on military matters, said a high number of minorities at higher staff noncommissioned officer ranks in the Marines points to its success in attracting and retaining black and Latino recruits in the 1970s and 1980s.
Minorities represent about 45 percent of all sergeant major and master gunnery sergeants. She said those figures may erode if the Marines can't attract more blacks and Latinos in the future.
Gerald Johnson, president of the North County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he agreed that the military is better because of its diversity and that the decline in minority enlistment is a cause for concern.
"In my opinion, every place in this nation ... should reflect the makeup of this nation," said Johnson, a 22-year Marine veteran. "I believe that, not only in the military but everywhere, we should be able to see the mirror of the populace of this nation."
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY ---- Top Marine Corps officials have expressed concern over a decline in minority enlistments, blaming at least part of the decrease on the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said last week that there had been a decline in enlistment among blacks and that Latino enlistment had fluctuated in recent years. He said the wars ---- and hesitation on the part of parents and others who influence young people's decisions to join the military ---- are possible explanations for the downward trend.
"There's a war on, and people aren't as quick to recommend military enlistment," Johnson said.
Department of Defense statistics show that the percentage of black recruits for all services has dropped from 20 percent in 2000 to about 13 percent last year. In the Marines, the percentage of black recruits has dipped from about 13 percent in 2000 to 7.6 percent in 2006.
The percentage of Latinos serving has fallen slightly in the Marines but has risen in the military overall, according to government figures.
During a recent speech in San Diego, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told officers gathered at the annual National Naval Officers Association that the numbers are "not a good-news story," according to a story in the Marine Corps Times.
The military is often held as a model of racial integration and economic opportunity for various racial and ethnic groups. Conway said in a recent interview that the Marines have kept a diverse force but expressed concern that the enlistment trend may lead to problems in the future.
"What we have seen is, really, in all three ethnic groups, a ... declining propensity to join. Our recruiters are aware of that," Conway told the Associated Press. "I've tasked our recruiters with ensuring that our minority percentages stay strong."
He said he wants the Marine Corps "to roughly parallel the ethnic makeup of our country. I think that's what our country would expect of our military."
Of the 288 million people living in the United States in 2005, 12 percent were black, 14.5 percent were Latino and 4 percent were Asian, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Not everyone agrees there is a problem looming.
Tim Kane, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research organization in Washington, said the military continues to be a racially diverse force.
"I don't find a real problem with the demographics," Kane said. "The bottom line is, the military does a pretty good job of being color blind."
Kane analyzed demographic data for military enlistees from 2003 to 2005 in a report called "Who are the Recruits?" He looked at recruits' household income, level of education, regional origin and race and ethnicity.
The data indicate that "U.S. military recruits are more similar than dissimilar to the American youth population," according to the report. "The slight differences are that wartime U.S. military enlistees are better educated, wealthier and more rural on average than their civilian peers."
The report was assembled in response to criticisms that minorities and low-income communities were overrepresented in the military.
Pentagon data obtained by the Associated Press shows mixed results on the racial diversity of recruits.
The number of Latinos joining the active-duty military and reserves for all four services grew from about 27,000 in 2003 ---- the year the war in Iraq began ---- to more than 33,000 in 2006. However, Marine statistics show that the number of Latinos serving in this branch declined from 23,000 in 2001 to about 22,000 this year.
Marine officials say part of the military's strength lies in its diversity.
"It's America's Marine Corps and it should look like America," Johnson said. "We're stronger as a country because we are diverse, and we're a stronger military because we're diverse."
But what the military sees as strength, some see as a reliance on minority and low-income communities to fill its ranks.
Jorge Mariscal, a UC San Diego professor of Latino studies and a Vietnam War veteran, said Latinos and low-income students are lured by recruiters with distorted images of the military. He is part of an Encinitas-based group called Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities that acts as a counterpoint to military recruiters.
"The question is: Who's really serving and what economic class is being seduced into the military?" Mariscal said.
Aline Quester, a researcher with the Center for Naval Analysis, a nonprofit research organization specializing on military matters, said a high number of minorities at higher staff noncommissioned officer ranks in the Marines points to its success in attracting and retaining black and Latino recruits in the 1970s and 1980s.
Minorities represent about 45 percent of all sergeant major and master gunnery sergeants. She said those figures may erode if the Marines can't attract more blacks and Latinos in the future.
Gerald Johnson, president of the North County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he agreed that the military is better because of its diversity and that the decline in minority enlistment is a cause for concern.
"In my opinion, every place in this nation ... should reflect the makeup of this nation," said Johnson, a 22-year Marine veteran. "I believe that, not only in the military but everywhere, we should be able to see the mirror of the populace of this nation."
Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
Ellie