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US Army Leadership Still Mostly White

David Segal quoted in USA Today

USA Today recently released a report about racial diversity in the leadership of the US military. They drew a simple but disturbing conclusion: the US Army, though racially diverse, is led almost entirely by white men. USA Today reports that in 2014, there is not a single black commander among the Army's 25 combat brigades, and there are only three black commanders in 80 battalion openings.

With few African American role models in combat leadership positions, young black men are less likely to see combat command as a viable future goal. According to MPRC faculty affiliate David Segal, African Americans who enter the military often do so as part of a strategy to develop transferable skills that can help them obtain good jobs after they leave the military. "There has been a trend among African Americans who do come into the military to gravitate to career fields that have transfer value — that pretty much excludes the combat arms," Segal said. It also means that there are fewer African Americans in the pool from which high-ranking military officers are chosen. Two thirds of the Army's four-star generals come from combat commands, which are still mostly white.

The Army plans to enhance recruiting and mentoring for minority officers, particularly in combat fields.

Read the story in USA Today

Read a related story in the Patriot Post


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