Recruiting Minorities in the US Army - Term Paper Example

 Recruiting Minorities in the US Army Executive Summary The United States Department of Defense has always strived to have a socially representative force that enlists every other person irrespective of any affiliation with much focus put in the incorporation of the minorities in the US Army. Ideally, in a society that practices democracy, the military force must be diverse and all inclusive of all the citizens of the nation it seeks to protect. During the Cold War era, African-American representation was higher as compared to other races but this has changed in the current composition of the United States military. Similarly, Hispanics who were under-represented during the Cold War time began to stabilize in the 1980s but this has declined by a significant population. This article seeks to examine the causes that hinder the recruitment of these minorities in the US Army as well as the effects of such difficulties and further give solutions to such underrepresentation in the American military. The recruitment of minorities to serve in the active component of the American military service is listed as a priority for the military planners and much success has been achieved in the past thirty years. These increases notwithstanding, the causes that may lead to underrepresentation are still inherent and therefore there is the urgent need to address the effects and the possible solutions that can be applied to remedy the situation about the underrepresentation. The trends that show the reduction of the enlisting of minorities such as the African-Americans and the Hispanics should be addressed especially the barriers that make it difficult for them to join the United States Army and rising through the ranks of the military. Recruiting Minorities in the US Army The question that keeps ringing in the mind of those charged with recruitment is whether there is a correlation between the race of an individual and his proclivity to enlist in the US Army. The question extends further to whether there is a relationship between the willingness of a person to join the military and other social burdens or disadvantages such as poverty. Finding this cause of imbalance in the representation of minorities in the military is challenging to those involved in the recruitment and framing of personnel policy for the military. There have been several socio-economic explanations that have been offered to explain these imbalances such as personal income, the income of the parent or guardian, educational level or the distribution in urban areas. Despite research and assumptions of the difficulty in the recruitment of minorities in the army, the hypothesis is that there is no correlation between the willingness of an individual to enlist in the army based on his race or any other form of diversity deemed as a minority. Simply, there must be other causes of the imbalance that makes minorities especially the African-Americans and the Hispanics to be underrepresented in the US Army. Causes There have been intermittent increase and decrease of minorities’ recruitment in the military in terms of race despite the law having outlawed racial discrimination in the recruitment process. The Executive Order 9981 by President Truman outlawed the discrimination in recruitment of persons in the military irrespective of race, color, religion or nation of origin (Lutz, 2008). For a very long time, the United States Army has toiled to create a workforce and personnel that has a representation of the racial and ethnic diversity of the American population. A commission that was created by the Congress has reported that while the pentagon has achieved an almost perfect balance in the lower ranks, it has not done so for the senior levels in the military. According to the studies by Lutz (2008) an important indicator as to whether one is likely to enlist in the military at times is dictated by the family income in that those with lower family income are likely to join the US Army as compared to those from families with higher income. In fact, the United States army disproportionately allocates blacks in the military in that they are put in combat-service support units as opposed to the combat units. It is also observed that blacks and whites join the military for different purposes. While the whites join the military to raise fees for college or university education and end up in combat units while blacks join the military to attain skills and find the army a better place to live in. This is contrary to the popular claim by most people that low socio-economic status is to blame for the difficulty in enlisting minorities in the American military. Despite the fact that there has been an opposition to the integration of the African-Americans in the United States military, there is evidence that the blacks have been used previously in wars fought by America irrespective of the disparaging and the stigmatization that these people met. As with any normal society, the issue of accommodating any diversity and difference in the military has not occurred without any iota of contention, suspicion or hostility towards the minorities (Rhonda, 2003). In spite of the teething problem of recruiting and integrating the minorities in the United States military, there have been efforts aimed at addressing the tensions brought about by the difficulty in recruiting the minorities in the military. During the American Civil War, there was segregation in the military in the sense that the white population believed that the Negro should not fight and that the white man will never fight them, fight beside them or enlist their support for the war. However, due to the hostilities met, African-Americans were agitated and still search for an opportunity to fight in wars and conflicts, as a means of asserting themselves of the right to be involved in defending the nation and to liberate their fellows. The restricted use of the blacks for the American Civil war partly contributed to the defeat of the Confederate states, and this led to the enlisting of the black minorities in future wars, as America desperately needed the numbers to fight the two world wars and other unanticipated future wars. Despite the enlisting of these minorities in the military, there are still hindrances and barriers that prevent them from joining the United States Armed forces (Rhonda, 2003). Statistics from the Pentagon indicate that seventy-five percent of Americans are unlikely or eligible to enlist in the military due to low standards of education or scores in tests, past criminal history or the failure to meet the health or fitness requirements of the military (Daniel, 2011). The statistics also indicate that black representation in the US Army enlistments fell by about eight percent between the years 2000 and 2004 representing the challenges that can be attributed to the negative effects of Iraqi war that resulted in massive casualties among the black population in the army (Asch et al, 2009). There was also marked reduction in the recruitment of Hispanics who felt that it would be needless to involve themselves in a war whose cause they do not support as they feel the war lacks any legitimacy. Lutz (2008) states that immigrants like Germans, Irish and Italians had enlisted in the United States Army same as African-Americans but the addressing of the discriminatory practices against the blacks has only been done later in the nineteenth century. This became necessary because work force was needed for the two world wars after the changing of the whites-only policy of the military. Minorities are usually perceived to possess able qualities to join the US Army, but are often barred by obstacles that either discourage or discriminate against them and the fact that most do not meet the required criteria set by the military. However, the most glaring reason for decreased or low minority hiring is the decreasing number of qualified applicants, the inability to offer competitive compensation, and the personal or individual characteristics such as use of drugs and criminal activities. While other minorities would prefer jobs in the private sector as they are deemed to be more competitive and reward better than the military. In addition, minorities and women faced barriers in advancing to higher levels in the U.S. army were the desire to join the private sector or move into the civil world. According to the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, minorities only list in the military or armed forces just to get the knowledge that would help them in search of jobs in the market outside the military. Moreover, fewer women are put in combat positions that are the easiest way to move up the military ladder that confine them to the lower ranks (Kirby, Harrell and Sloan, 2000). Effects The failure of not recruiting minorities in the United States Army has had the effect of making the services unable to meet the recruitment goals and targets of the armed forces in one way or the other due to the inadequacy of manpower and the relevant human resource. The U.S. Army had the difficulty of meeting the target of about eighty-thousand new soldiers in the year 2005 and the projections for further recruitment fell to lower levels thus reducing the strength of the force as compared to the demands. Because the U.S. Army relies heavily on voluntary recruitment to fill its ranks, the constant challenge of filling the same through recruitment has increased. Instead, the army is now forced to rely on the conscripted force to recruit the army personnel explaining the support that Americans have for the Reinstatement of draft that calls for an all-inclusive army. The reduced recruitment of minorities in the U.S. army has also made the American citizens voice their support for the conflicts that America has fought, for example the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The theory behind this is that the public feels if all citizens faced an equal prospect of dying in defense of the interests of the American public, support for the conflicts would be increased. Solutions and Recommendations The United States 2009 National Defense Authorization Act has created the Military Leadership Diversity Commission that advocates for improving and promoting the participation and recruitment of minorities in the military to make it more diverse. The commission advocates for successful promotion and retention of racial/ethnic minorities amount the enlisted forces in line with the changing diversity of the United States (U.S. Department of Defense, 2011). The commission therefore recommends that one way that can be employed to remove the barriers that exist in the US military is to make recommendations that are aimed at enhancing culture, promoting career progression and the recruitment of minorities as well as growing the pool of eligible candidates that can be enlisted in the military. Further, the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommends that the services contemplate having a unfailing obligation to diversity in the promotion of officers and ensure that there is preparation and training at all levels of the military (Daniel, 2011). In order to promote diversity of the United States Army, the military service is asked to increase their pool of eligible candidates or recruits for participation in the military (Armor and Gilroy, 2010). It is also recommended that a new and broader definition of diversity that can enrich the background and skills that are not present in the military currently such as the recruitment of persons from diverse regions and differing cultural backgrounds to increase the diversity of the military. One important and often ignored mode of ensuring that there is diversity that reflects the absorption of minorities in the military is to ensure that there is surface-level diversity in the military that means every person can be at the top leadership of the military irrespective of the race, color, ethnicity or gender. The solution to the problem of exclusion of minorities in recruitment and promotions in the military has got much support due to the fact that the United States army is subordinate to the federal government. Therefore, it compels it to respond to the social pressures brought its way for inclusion and the fact that the demand for inclusion of minorities has been rife in response to propaganda pushed forward by the enemies of the United States. References Armor, D., & Gilroy, C. (January 01, 2010). Changing Minority Representation in the U.S. Military. Armed Forces & Society, 36, 2, 223-246. Asch, B. J., Heaton, P., Savych, B., & National Defense Research Institute (U.S.). (2009). Recruiting minorities: What explains recent trends in the Army and Navy?. Santa Monica, CA: RAND. Daniel, Lisa. (March 08, 2011). Panel Recommends Ways to Improve Military Diversity. U.S. Department of Defense. Retrieved from http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=63065 Kirby, S. N., Harrell, M. C. and Sloan, J. (2000). Why Don't Minorities Join Special Operations Forces? Armed Forces & Society, vol. 26 no. 4 523-545 Lutz, A. (December 01, 2008). Who joins the military? A look at race, class, and immigration status. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 36, 2, 167-188. Rhonda, J. (June 1, 2003). A History of The Service Of Ethnic Minorities In The U.S. Armed Forces. PALM CENTER. Retrieved from http://www.palmcenter.org/publications/dadt/a_history_of_the_service_of_ethnic_minorites_in_the_u_s_armed_forces Read More