Does the Iraq War Play a Major Role in the Drop in Black Recruitment?

This entry was posted on 5/9/2007 10:13 PM and is filed under uncategorized.

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• 5/10/2007 1:18 PM Dee wrote:
  I believe this is true. Patriotism is one thing, risking your life for a very unpopular "war" is another. This was last deemed a peace keeping mission a few years ago, when the war was declared "over." I forbid my sons from entering the military. This is not the same America I grew up in and a voluntary service cannot keep the numbers of compulsory drafting. I bet there are fewer whites and other races enlisting too. There are still more blacks in the military than the per centages in our society. After working at several VAs and seeing the disparate treatment of black returning soldiers I am for even less blacks enlisting in today's military.
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• 5/19/2007 9:34 AM MSG Belt wrote:
  Black americans need to be aware that if they don't get back to enlisting in the military and joining the ROTC programs which lead to commissioning as an officer, there is going to be a noticeable deficit in black leadership in the military in the coming years. A recent news article on the Army's AKO website highlights the fact that the percentage of blacks joining the Army has dropped to nine percent. For a long time it was in the twenty percent range(since the Army became all volunteer.) Now if blacks are not joining because they hate this war, then that's fine, but don't start crying about it ten or twelve years from now when there are very few black Majors, LTC's, Master Sergeants, and First Sergeants. I'm sorry but I don't think the Army will use affirmative action to artificially beef up those numbers. If whites and hispanics carry the load now, then they will be the majority of the leadership in the future.
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• 5/20/2007 9:14 PM Lisa Price wrote:
  If Whites and Latinos want to be the leaders of the Army-then lead on...Who cares... My son went into the Army as a faithful soldier and do you think that the military acknowledge that...HELL NO... My son has to have a liver transplant due to an anthrax vaccine that was mandatory for soldiers to take. So don't worry about blacks complaining about leadership in the service-we are smart enough to know when to lead! And it’s not in the military
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• 5/22/2007 11:29 AM CSM (R) Oscar Shaw wrote:
  There are various reasons why today's Black youth do not join the military, some of which previous responders have alluded to. Whereas I agree the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are major reasons, they are not the sole reason. Today's Black poulation has more civilian job and post-high school educational opportunities than their predecessors, and thankfully, many are accepting that avenue. The corporate world and the miltary both have ample room for Black American leaders, they just need to be mentored and given the opportunity. When I was on active duty, there was an association called "The Rock" which served to mentor junior Black Officers. No such organization existed for the enlisted man, and I wish I had been more organized and less busy to have started something like it on my installation, but failed to do so. The Rock, and any organization that mentors actively-serving members does not help increase the new Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airmen's ranks, it just keeps the numbers from dipping. The current war does impact the numbers as well. The ARNG and USAR could once count on the loyalty of their local citizens to serve, but with so many of them also actively involved and deployed in OIF and OEF, and not closer to home station, they are choosing to seek other ways of making a career and stay closer to family and loved ones. After the current presidential administration has departed and the war begins to wane, I am certain Blacks will again support the call of their nation, state, and local community to serve. Blacks have always been a loyal and devoted segment of the population and will continue to be so in due time. That being said, Blacks also know when the cause is not just and display their disagreement by not joining, which my be the case here. Former Sec of State and GEN Colin Powell's timely exit signaled many things to many people. To me, an admirer of his and Soldier during his reign as the Chairman of the JCS, it showed me that things were not all they appeared to be. DoD must gain back the respect and trust of Blacks and all citizens by improving the quality of life, pay, deployment predictabilty, medical and health care, and post-service support if it wants to attract today's "What's In It For Me?" generation.
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• 9/7/2007 4:39 PM triple volunteer wrote:
  The asymetrical nature of combat in Iraq is the reason why Blacks are not reenlisting or failing to enlist in record numbers. The closer one gets to the fight, the whiter the ranks are; it has been this way for a long, long time. [take a moment and think about USSF, Ranger Units, SEALS, USMC Recon, AF PJs and combat controllers, etc. -All volunteer and almost all white.]
  Bottom line is that in this all volunteer force, Blacks tend to volunteer to be in the rear with the gear, a place that historically provided a safer and easier way of life. Does this sound familiar: "why walk when i can ride?" or "why the hell would i wanna jump out of an airplane, hump a ruck and be cold, wet, tired and hungry all night when i get payed the same to sit and drive this warm truck?"
  
  Support MOS soldiers are no longer safe on the asymetrical battlefield. They are still safer than those with a combat MOS, but they are significantly less safe then in previous scenarios.
  
  DOD demographic summaries support the theory; compare the percentage of Blacks in the Army or USMC with the percentage of casualties or deaths - they are not nearly the same.
  
  Enlistment rates: as of sept 2001, all groups showed an increase in enlistment rates following 9-11 - exception was Blacks: war was on the horizon. As of 2003 invasion of Iraq: numbers of blacks in the Army shrink at increasing rates that continue to this day.
  
  
  Now that there is a war on, a warrior class is emerging in the USA. That class is generally white, male, republican, christian, not from the north east or west coast, not wealthy, not poor, and not joining the Army for financial gain or social welfare. This member of the warrior class is joining because it is his calling to march to the sound of the guns in defense of his country and his family's way of life.
  
  P.S. "Submitted comments subject to Moderation" = sensorship. FYI
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• 4/23/2008 2:38 AM Kenneth J wrote:
  I joined the military the day the Iraq war begun. I have been to both OIF and OEF I can not just sit back and let others do a job that will define our generation. I’m proud of being a soldier, but i’m even prouder of being an African American who severe the United States. I think we should stop playing Monday morning quarterback and begin to join the fight as a people.
  
  God Bless.
  SGT Johnson, Kenneth
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