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 ...
* 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.
* Whites are underrepresented to a minor degree in only one category, in which blacks are overrepresented: Army officers
* 74% of 25-54 year-olds with bachelor's degrees are white
* 72% of Army officers are white
* 8% of 25-54 year-olds with B.A.s are black
* 13% of Army officers are black
* While 60% of 18-24 year-olds with a high school degree are white and 17% are black, 64% of new enlistees are white and 19% are black.
* Asians and Pacific Islanders, which make up the fastest-growing American demographic, are underrepresented in the Army, as are Hispanics.
Evangelicals are listed as including JWs and lds, what knee slapper.
I've heard this myself. It always makes me laugh because it is so stupid. Invariably, the person saying such stuff knows no one who serves in the military.
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."
Ping for reference.
The state by state representation is telling.
It is evangelistic, not Evangelical.
Surprised? Young white males are at the bottom of the civilian quota list — no wonder so many of them join the military. Blacks have been brainwashed into an anti-military view, and a greater proportion of them have criminal records and educational issues (”getting educated is acting white,” social promotion, etc). Hispanics have language and educational problems.
Libs live in a fantasy world. Facts are meaningless to them. They are simply ignored or don’t even register. See “cognitive dissonance.”
And "Pentacostals" is spelled wrong.
“Well educated”? - evidently not.
Among my small town friends I would say the numbers were fairly equal but the line between rich and poor doesn’t mean a lot among small town conservatives.
Did he appreciate this banner?:
They both evangelize, so I really don't see the problem in said classification.
Of course, I'm one of those unenlightened dolts who think Jesus Christ will decide who is and who is not Christian. Not some self-appointed committee of holier-than-thou types.
Actually the disparities are pretty small aside from New England and Pacific regions.
Those wonderful machines of war cannot be operated and maintained by persons of low intelligence or those with little education and/or training. For the urban elites to expect that the American military of the 21st Century can be manned primarily by ill-educated denizens of our poorest neighborhoods, they must not understand this basic fact.
Hey, once again Indians kick butt with about three times our share of recruits compared to the general population.
Our young people in service are very much for the most part bright and well motivated, it's not a dumping ground for misfits, not yet, anyway.
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