Race, the military, and the front line

Those unfamiliar with the structure of the modern military may not appreciate how few of those "under arms" serve in front-line units, let alone in a direct combat capacity. Which is why this USA Today article will probably turn some heads:

The American troops likeliest to fight and die in a war against Iraq are disproportionately white, not black, military statistics show — contradicting a belief widely held since the early days of the Vietnam War.

In a little-publicized trend, black recruits have gravitated toward non-combat jobs that provide marketable skills for post-military careers, while white soldiers are over-represented in front-line combat forces. . .

"If anybody should be complaining about battlefield deaths, it is poor, rural whites," says Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University in Illinois.

When Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., called recently for the return of a military draft, he evoked images of inequality raised during the early years of the Vietnam War, when black soldiers died at rates much greater than their share of the U.S. population.

Though Rangel is right that blacks and lower-income Americans still serve in disproportionate numbers, that fact misses another significant trend. While blacks are 20% of the military — compared with 12% of the U.S. population — they make up a far smaller percentage of troops in combat jobs on the front line.

In a host of high-risk slots — from Army commandos to Navy and Air Force fighter pilots — blacks constitute less than 5% of the force, statistics show.

Posted by David on January 21, 2003 1:24 PM