Does anyone know any Senior Enlisted Soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard willing to mentor.

No, He doesn't have to be black. That is just where I started. Anyone willing to help a soldier out would be appreciated.

LTC Yinon Weiss - To me personally, I would want the best mentor available, regardless whether he/she be Asian, black, white, or native. Sure, I may be speaking from the majority but isn't that the Military we should be desiring? The best qualified soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, especially the media.

1SG (Join to see) - Yes, we do want the best in everything, independent of race. We should promote based on performance, not based on race, gender, or ethnicity. We should put the most qualified people in the job, regardless of race.

I don't think SSG Sims is looking to demote his mentors and replace them with less qualified mentors of a difference race. He is simply looking for somebody who has a similar experience to him, as minorities can at times have a difference perspective due to inherent biases that society still has.

Look at it this way... when you leave the military one day, you may say "I want a mentor who was an infantryman." Would you want people to jump on you and say "MOS doesn't matter... military service doesn't matter... just find the best mentor you can." No, of course not. There is nothing wrong with seeking mentors who have shared a common experience as you, and being of an ethnic group does lead to some shared level of experience, no matter how color blind we want to be. As SSG Sims pointed out in one of his comments here:

"When an NCO from a different state comes looking for you, identifies you by name and rank and he is told, "Oh, you're looking for the colored guy""

Sometimes it's helpful to have mentors who have been through similar situations as this. I don't know why we would discourage that.

Understood and noted. It just makes me wonder if I would asked the same question SSG Sims did.....

Reach out to any of your past or current leaders who earned your respect and who you strive to emulate, whenever you need advise. If they are true leaders they will freely mentor you. Also, nothing stops you from having multiple mentors.

SSG (Servicemember), whoever you are, could you please explain why you down-voted SSG Sims' original question?

LTC Yinon Weiss - Is it possible to make it where if someone down-votes someone's comment they have to give a reason in order to do so?

SPC Tanya Cummings Boozer - Unfortunately not. You cannot force somebody to write an explanation. Although I believe in this case, the explanation was clearly written through is response. It may not make sense to you, but it is his explanation for better or worse.

SPC Tanya Cummings Boozer, what are you talking about? You can see my reason above. It's pretty clear.