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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Number of Black Recruits Plummets

Job market, family pressure contribute to 38% decline

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(Newser) – The number of blacks signing up for the military has dropped 38% since the beginning of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, reports the AP. The number of new active-duty and reserve recruits fell from 51,500 in 2001 to less than 32,000 in 2006, reflecting both greater job opportunities and increasing opposition by relatives and community leaders.

But the Iraq war's death toll of 3,540 U.S. troops remains the biggest deterrent, says one general. In response to the decline, the military is gearing its recruiting strategy toward "influencers," such as pastors, coaches, teachers, and particularly parents. Support among all of them is down, with mothers least likely to encourage joining the service and backing among grandparents skidding.

Pfc. Ean Bell of Omaha cradles his 19-month-old daughter Jaiden at a sendoff ceremony in Lincoln, Neb., Thursday, May 31, 2007. About 190 soldiers assigned to the Nebraska Army National Guard's 600th Transportation Company took leave of their families as they left for Fort Bragg to train for their Iraq...
Pfc. Ean Bell of Omaha cradles his 19-month-old daughter Jaiden at a sendoff ceremony in Lincoln, Neb., Thursday, May 31, 2007. About 190 soldiers assigned to the Nebraska Army National Guard's 600th...   (Associated Press)
Newly enlisted Army recruits, in black shirts, join recruiting officers in a ceremony in New York in this Sept. 22, 2006, file photo. According to data obtained by The Associated Press, the number of blacks joining the U.S. military has plunged by more than one-third since the Afghanistan and...
Newly enlisted Army recruits, in black shirts, join recruiting officers in a ceremony in New York in this Sept. 22, 2006, file photo. According to data obtained by The Associated Press, the number of...   (Associated Press)
Private security officers with Wackenhut Services Inc., fire M4 carbine rifles as they train during a paramilitary training at the Nevada Test Site in Mercury, Nev., about 65 miles from Las Vegas, Wednesday, May 17, 2007. For guards at the Energy Department's nuclear weapons facilities, failure to protect nuclear materials...
Private security officers with Wackenhut Services Inc., fire M4 carbine rifles as they train during a paramilitary training at the Nevada Test Site in Mercury, Nev., about 65 miles from Las Vegas, Wednesday,...   (Associated Press)
Casualty Of War In Afghanistan Buried At Arlington Cemetery
Casualty Of War In Afghanistan Buried At Arlington Cemetery   (Getty Images)
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