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Government
Army is worried too many white men lead combat units
2014-09-13
[WASHINGTONTIMES] U.S. Army sociologists are worried that a lack of black officers leading its combat troops will have detrimental effect on minorities and lead to fewer black officers in top leadership posts.
Everybody knows the important thing isn't getting the job done, it's what color the doers are.
"The issue exists. The leadership is aware of it," Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis told USA Today on Thursday. "The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it's complicated."

The Army reports that only 10 percent of its active-duty officers are black, which has contributed to its dearth of black officers leading soldiers with occupational specialties in infantry, armor and artillery.

"It certainly is a problem for several reasons," Col. Irving Smith, director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, told USA Today. "First we are a public institution. And as a public institution we certainly have more of a responsibility to our nation than a private company to reflect it. In order to maintain their trust and confidence, the people of America need to know that the Army is not only effective but representative of them."

USA Today's research found that 25 relevant brigades it looked at did not have a single black commander in 2014. For 2015, the paper reported that there will be two black commanders of combat brigades.

Capt. Grancis Santana, 33, spoke to the paper and asserted that it wasn't discrimination that was causing a lack of minority officers in key posts -- the supply of desired soldiers in his military occupational specialty simply wasn't there.
Posted by:Fred

#14  Cuz whut i want iz a po littykal bozz whu maks shur mi firr hat haz no merikkkan flag on it.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2014-09-13 13:50  

#13  Good discussion of this topic on This aint Hell
Posted by: bman   2014-09-13 11:36  

#12  This is yet another agenda that is irrelevant, unrealistic, harmful &/or useless.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418    2014-09-13 11:23  

#11  What these numbnuts forget is that at the small unit level the LEADERS are the NCOs.

My experience was having three of my four platoon sergeants as black, my first sergeant and 9 of my 12 squad leaders were black.

The problem is not the NUMBERS of blacks in the military, it is blacks with college degrees willing to go into ROTC programs and receive a commission. AND I don't think the US military needs officers with degrees in ethnic studies or black history leading men in combat.

The numbers speak. If 7% of your male population is black, why are you surprised that less than 10% of your officers are black???

This is another one of the nowhere man administration programs that focuses on race rather than reality.
Posted by: Bill Clinton   2014-09-13 10:37  

#10  FOBBIT incontinence? I can relate.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-09-13 09:58  

#9  Yes, the FOBBITS have cognisantly chosen safety over the fruits at the top. Same crap with removing the prohibition of women in combat. The goal is to appoint a female to the Chief of the services and the Chairman position. Can't get those unless you've been a combat leader as the whole institution is about 'closing with and destroying the enemy'. By self selection of careers within the service, many have voluntarily chosen to exclude that possibility. That's human free will which is something the socialists in their re-engineering of society refuse to recognize.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-09-13 09:43  

#8  “You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Attributed to John Fn Kerry.

Kerry most likely ate those words. It seems that the military is made up of the well-educated and not the poor.

African-Americans make up about 12-13% of the population. 10% blacks in leadership seems about right. The Army sociologists are getting very P.C. I would think that troops would follow a good white or black officer. We don't want the issue of racial biases in the military or the government. What we have now is the result--no justice in the DOJ. A Prez who injects himself in every incident that involves race much like Al Sharpton.
Posted by: JohnQC   2014-09-13 09:35  

#7  Infantry and Special Forces units are predominately white. Non-Combat arms, Combat Service and Support elements, and units that seldom leave the FOB..... not so much. Been that way since the end of the draft, possibly before.

The geography of CONUS assignments might also be an interesting study. I blame climate warming.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-09-13 07:21  

#6  Not sure why the Rantburg web-link feature did not work. Here is the website: http://www.westpointaog.org/inmemoriam
Posted by: Lone Ranger   2014-09-13 07:13  

#5  Well, I spent a few hours researching the demographics numbers behind this listing of all West Point grads considered to have been killed in the Global War on Terrorism:

Not counting the three that were in civilian status at the time of their deaths, there are 98 names listed. Two out of the 98 grads killed were black - one Armor officer, and one female Medical Service Corps officer.

So 2% of the total fatality count was black.

Other figures:

Branches of those killed: (out of 98)

Infantry/Special Forces 46
Armor 15
Aviation 13
Field Artillery 10
Engineers 8
Military Intelligence 1
Medical Corps 1
Medical Service Corps 1
Ordnance Corp 1
Signal Corps 1
Military Police Corps 1

Cause of death:

IED's 51
Aircraft crashes 13
Small arms/RPG/grenades 17
Non-combat (non aviation) 7
Blue on Green 3
Friendly Fire 1
Fragging 1
Suicide 1

From the numbers, it would appears that black officers may not be as willing to face the risks of dying that come along with a Combat Arms branch, as are their white counterparts.

I am USMA graduate, I served 10 years on active duty as an Infantry officer (during peacetime). I served under two black company commanders, one black brigade commander, and one black division commander. As a training company commander, my First Sergeant, my Executive Officer, my Supply Sergeant, and my Senior Drill Sergeant were all black. I was very proud to serve with, and had great respect for all of these men.

From my personal experience, in the combat arms, the soldiers and NCO's want leaders who will train them well, and - if the have to go into battle - will bring them back alive. Other than that, they could care less what color their leaders are.
Posted by:    2014-09-13 07:12  

#4  Only about 7% of Americans are black males. Probably like only 3 or 4% of them are of military age. Yet the military is bitching that only 10% are active duty officers???

Sounds like we need more Hispanics or Asian officer candidates, rather than more blacks.

Besides, blacks (as a race) generally have trouble with tests, and advancement abilities.

I'm sure this remains true for the military, when trying to find qualified officer candidates.

Tests and performance rankings are in place for a reason.
We should not think about "dumbing" them down to accommodate political correctness.
That's surely a recipe for disaster on the battlefield.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt   2014-09-13 02:41  

#3  I fear southern rustics are likely over-represented, they have ever been stupid that way.

There is a need for funding my program, Say No! Not Yo! we can share offices and funding with my other program DWAG dawgs without a gun which explores the plight of the three dawgs in the south who aren't batshit crazy for running around in the swamp finding smelly things,
Posted by: Shipman   2014-09-13 02:00  

#2  

How about you recruit some minority officers that are worth a fuck?

I have served with 'em. I know they exist. Col. West is a prime example.

Also kick some ass of the college people going into ROTC. Or make some mustangs. Either way.
Posted by: DarthVader   2014-09-13 01:23  

#1  "The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it's complicated."

Secret Army promotion board guidance, commissioning and assignment directives simply are not working. American penal systems are disproportionately subscribed. Should the hunt for more brigade commanders start there? More simply must be done.

[sarc off]

Posted by: Besoeker   2014-09-13 00:55  

00:00