Posted on 09/27/2011 1:03:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It should no more be necessary to write this article than to prove that there were Jews killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. And yet the mythology refuses to die. Just last week, two well-educated and well-known writer acquaintances of mine remarked in passing on the "fact" that those who serve in the U.S. military typically have no other career options. America's soldiers, they said, were poor and black.
They don't mean this to denigrate their service—no, they mean it as a critique of American society, which turns its unemployed into cannon fodder. Especially today with high unemployment, the charge goes, hapless youths we fail to educate are embarking on a one-way trip to Afghanistan.
These allegations—most frequently leveled at the Army, the military's biggest service and the one with the highest casualty rate—are false.
In 2008, using data provided by the Defense Department, the Heritage Foundation found that only 11% of enlisted military recruits in 2007 came from the poorest one-fifth, or quintile, of American neighborhoods (as of the 2000 Census), while 25% came from the wealthiest quintile. Heritage reported that "these trends are even more pronounced in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, in which 40% of enrollees come from the wealthiest neighborhoods, a number that has increased substantially over the past four years."
Indeed, the Heritage report showed that "low-income families are underrepresented in the military and high-income families are overrepresented. Individuals from the bottom household income quintile make up 20.0 percent of Americans who are age 18-24 years old but only 10.6 percent of the 2006 recruits and 10.7 percent of the 2007 recruits. Individuals in the top two quintiles make up 40.0 percent of the population, but 49.3 percent of the recruits in both years."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
the “fact” that those who serve in the U.S. military typically have no other career options
When I hear the media say this it pisses me off. It is so insulting. I had plenty of opportunities but chose to go into the military (mainly because my parents refused to pay for college because I would have been Mr. Social instead of a serious student) and they were right. Had I shown some interest in the studying part of school, my parents would have paid for college for me. I am the oldest of 3....the other two went to college directly with my parents paying. So screw them in this BS of this is our only option we have in life. That is factually not true.I joined the Navy but worked with the Marine Corps some times and TRUST ME there are a TON of Marines who joined because of family tradition or the fact that it is an honor and they are from influential families, who don’t have a worry in the World with regards to money.....So this author can F himself. It gets me so disgusted when the media pulls this card.
Yep, they know enough to choose the winning side.
Only for the Midwest. The difference between the Pacific and the Northeast compared to the South and West is in excess of a 40% swing. If I understand the chart.
That seems pretty big.
My white son will find this to be interesting.
Do you have a breakdown of racial distribution by MOS, AFSC, ratings, or whatever the USMC calls their career fields? Specifically who is in combat arms and/or special forces?
I once saw an article on crime committed by the general US population compared to military members similar to your education graph. Would you happen to have access to those stats?
Semper FI,
TS
Yup. Whenever lefty’s b**** about the military, it’s a way for them to say white, male and southern.
Thank you. And thank you for your great service. It is such crap that the media pulls this. I happily just retired in June after 24 years. I loved every minute of it but enjoying post retirement too.
So they need more atheists as chaplains?
* Whereas blacks comprise 17% of Americans ages 18-39 with high school degrees, they represent only a slightly larger proportion of enlisted soldiers, at 21%.
* Whites were significantly overrepresented among enlisted Army personnel in 2010
* While 58% of Americans 18-39 years old are white, 64% of the Army’s enlisted men and women are.
Hmm. 25% overrepresentation of blacks is “slightly”, while 10% overrepresentation of whites is “significantly” (note: assuming the 18-39 criteria is included in the representation figures, if not they mean pretty much nothing anyway)?
Demographics changed drastically in ‘86 when the all volunteer Army came into being.
Classic!!!
As will my white son (BS in Computer Science, Major, pilot, USAF, just flew back across the Atlantic from 7 months in Afghanistan), and my white daughter (BA and two MA’s, Staff Sergeant, USMC). We are not a poor family, but we do live in the deep South.
Wow! Nice job.
Who would that be? I certainly am not holy and have never claimed to be, so I know you aren’t taking about me, which by the way has nothing to do with what I posted.
The same idiots told the same lies during the Vietnam era and that was a pack of lies as well. During VN the vast majority were white, high school grads, some college or a degree and mostly from a middle income background. Back then the democrats in congress had to mandate project 200,000 to ensure that the services brought in a representation of those who could not meet the minimum intelligence requirements. There were a number of these people in another training program where I was taking training and some of them could barely walk and talk at the same time. More social engineering.
It isn’t uncommon for recruiters to be able to closely guess a recruit’s test scores based upon the recruit’s zip code.
And there is a strong correlation between economic success and IQ. The top test scores don’t come from the derelict nieghborhoods.
Are there any stats breaking things down by state, metro area, or city?
Also, how about religion and race? For example: white Catholic, white Protestant, Hispanic Catholic, black Protestant, etc.
Bright and motivated ... yep, that fits all of our friends, neighbors and kin-folk in the military.
I wonder if some of the lower-income groups have trouble meeting fitness and education requirements.
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