Posted on Sep 11, 2014
Lack of minority officers leading Army combat units? How do you respond to this article?
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WASHINGTON — Command of the Army's main combat units — its pipeline to top leadership — is virtually devoid of black officers, according to interviews, documents and data obtained by USA TODAY.
The lack of black officers who lead infantry, armor and field artillery battalions and brigades — there are no black colonels at the brigade level this year — threatens the Army's effectiveness, disconnects it from American society and deprives black officers of the principal route to top Army posts, according to officers and military sociologists. Fewer than 10 percent of the active-duty Army's officers are black compared with 18 percent of its enlisted men, according to the Army.
The problem is most acute in its main combat units: infantry, armor and artillery. In 2014, there was not a single black colonel among those 25 brigades, the Army's main fighting unit of about 4,000 soldiers. Brigades consist of three to four battalions of 800 to 1,000 soldiers led by lieutenant colonels. Just one of those 78 battalions is scheduled to be led by a black officer in 2015.
Leading combat units is an essential ticket to the Army's brass ring. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army's chief of staff, commanded artillery units; his predecessor, Gen. Martin Dempsey, led armored units, and is now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"The issue exists. The leadership is aware of it," says Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis, the Army's chief of public affairs. Lewis is a helicopter pilot who has commanded at the battalion and brigade levels and is African-American. "The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it's complicated."
Among the complications: expanding the pool of minority candidates qualified to be officers, and helping them choose the right military jobs they'll need to climb the ranks, Lewis says.
To be sure, there are black officers who have attained four stars. Gen. Lloyd Austin, an infantry officer, leads Central Command, arguably the military's most critical combatant command as it oversees military operations in the Middle East. Another four-star officer, Gen. Vincent Brooks, leads U.S. Army Pacific, and Gen. Dennis Via runs Army Materiel Command, its logistics operation.
The concern, however, is for Army's seed bed for four-star officers — the combat commands from which two-thirds of its generals are grown. They're unlikely to produce a diverse officer corps if candidates remain mostly white.
"It certainly is a problem for several reasons," says Col. Irving Smith, director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Smith is also an African-American infantry officer who has served in Afghanistan. "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."
Black officers at the top ranks of the brass show young minority officers what they can achieve. Their presence also signals to allies in emerging democracies like Afghanistan that inclusive leadership is important. Diverse leadership, research shows, is better able to solve complex problems such as those the Army confronted in Iraq and Afghanistan, Smith said.
"It comes down to effectiveness," Smith said. "Diversity and equal opportunity are important, but most people don't point out that it makes the Army more effective."
The Problem
The Army's — and the Pentagon's — main ground fighting force remains the Army's infantry, armor and artillery units, although aviation and engineering units are also considered combat arms. Many of their names have become familiar to the American public after more than a decade of war: The 101st Airborne Division; the 82nd Airborne Division; the 10th Mountain Division.
They share a proud history of tough fights and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. They also share a lack of black leaders. In all, eight of 10 of the Army's fighting divisions do not have a black battalion commander in their combat units.
(For now, they also lack women. The military plans to open combat roles to women in 2016.)
USA TODAY obtained the Army's list of battalion and brigade commanders. Several officers familiar with the personnel on them identified the black officers, which the Army refused to do. The paper considered officers in infantry, armor and field artillery — the three main combat-arms branches.
The results: In 2014, there is not a single black commander among its 25 brigades; there were three black commanders in its 80 battalion openings.
In 2015, there will be two black commanders of combat brigades; and one black commander among 78 battalions openings.
"It's command. If you don't command at the (lieutenant colonel) level, you're not going to command at (the colonel level)," says Army Col. Ron Clark, an African-American infantry officer who has commanded platoon, company, battalion and brigade level. "If you don't command at the (colonel) level, you're not going to be a general officer."
Capt. Grancis Santana, 33, knows about the long odds he faces as an artillery officer hoping to become a colonel.
He found few black officers in his specialty — about two of 20 when he was a lieutenant, and about three of 30 when he made captain.
"It's not a good feeling when you're one of the few," Santana said. "There was no discrimination; there are just not a lot of people like you."
A key reason is the paucity of black officers graduated by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, its ROTC programs and Officer Candidate School.
For instance, the newly minted officer classes of 2012 and 2013 in combat arms remained mostly white, according to data released by the Army. Of the 238 West Point graduates commissioned to be infantry officers in 2012, 199 were white; seven were black. At Officer Candidate School, which accepts qualified enlisted soldiers and graduates with four-year degrees, 66 received commissions as infantry officers — 55 were white, none was black. The figures remained nearly unchanged for 2013.
The downsizing of the Army is having a disproportional effect on African-American officers. From the pool of officers screened, almost 10 percent of eligible black majors are being dismissed from the Army compared with 5.6 percent of eligible white majors, USA TODAY reported in early August. The Army is cutting 550 majors and about 1,000 captains as the Army seeks to reduce its force to 490,000 soldiers by the end of 2015.
The Causes
Two forces seem to reinforce the lack of black officers in combat command. For decades, young black men have tended to choose other fields, including logistics. With fewer role models and mentors in combat specialties, those fields have been seen as less welcoming to African-American officers.
Irving Smith remembers his parents being "heartbroken" that he chose infantry.
"African Americans have historically used the armed forces as a means of social mobility," says Smith, who joined the infantry, has risen to the rank of colonel and now is professor and director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. "That is certainly true for African Americans who have used the armed forces as a bridging opportunity (to new careers)."
Parents, pastors and coaches of young black men and women considering the Army often don't encourage them to join the combat specialties.
"Why would you go in the infantry?" Smith says of a common question. "Why would you want to run around in the woods and jump out of airplanes, things that have no connection to private businesses? Do transportation. Do logistics. That will provide you with transferable skills."
Developing marketable skills has been a key motivation for many African Americans, said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland. That has often meant driving a truck, not a tank.
"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.
Clark, who now works at the Pentagon, wasn't encouraged initially to join the infantry. His father enlisted in 1964 and had an Army career in food service.
"He grew up in a small town in southern Louisiana in the middle of Jim Crow South," Clark says. "He was tired of having someone telling him where to sit on a bus, which water fountain to drink from and which bathroom he could use."
At age 11, the younger Clark remembers climbing on a tank when the family was stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983 sealed the deal for him: He wanted to be infantryman.
"I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger in a tree," Clark says, "and my dad was not having it. He said, 'Nope, you are not going following my footsteps. I want you to go to college.'"
The compromise, after his father had him speak with an African-American brigade executive officer named Larry Ellis, was to enroll at West Point. Ellis went on to become a four-star general, and Clark graduated from the academy in 1988.
Clark and Irving remain exceptional cases.
The downsizing of the Army is having a disproportional effect on African-American officers. From the pool of officers screened, almost 10 percent of eligible black majors are being dismissed from the Army compared with 5.6 percent of eligible white majors, USA TODAY reported in early August. The Army is cutting 550 majors and about 1,000 captains as the Army seeks to reduce its force to 490,000 soldiers by the end of 2015.
The Army's Response
The problem has attracted attention at the Army's highest ranks. In March, Army Secretary John McHugh and Odierno, the chief of staff, issued a directive aimed at diversifying the leadership of its combat units.
USA TODAY obtained a copy of the memo, which notes that the Army historically has drawn the majority of its generals from combat fields, specifically "Infantry, Armor and Field Artillery." For at least two decades, however, young minority officers have selected those fields in the numbers necessary to produce enough generals.
"African Americans have the most limited preference in combat arms, followed by Hispanic and Asian Pacific officers," the memo states. While black officers make up 12 percent of Army officers in all competitive specialties, they make up just 7 percent of the Army's infantry, armor and artillery officers. For junior officers, that figure is lower, 6 percent.
Minority groups need a "critical mass" of about 15 percent to feel they have a voice, Smith says.
The Army's plan calls for enhanced recruiting and mentoring for minority officers, particularly in combat fields, tracking their progress and encouraging mentorship.
Mentors needn't be of the same race, Clark and Lewis say. Lewis noted that several of his closest mentors were white officers, including retired general Richard Cody, who retired as Army vice chief of staff. Cody advised him to spend time at the Army's National Training Center, in the California desert. It paid off, Lewis says.
"Everyone does not have to look like you," Lewis says. "You have to be able to receive mentorship, leadership. And you have to follow some of that. You may have to spend some time at a really hard place for a bit."
Byron Bagby, a retired African-American two-star artillery officer, applauds the Army for acknowledging the problem and taking steps to address it. He cautions progress will be slow. Bagby retired in 2011 from a top post with NATO in the Netherlands.
"We're not going to solve this tomorrow, or a year from now," Bagby says.
Smith has another suggestion for the Army. Ask an in-house expert: him.
The brass could also stop by his office for a chat, he says.
"I've never had anybody from the Department of the Army come to me. I'm a sociologist. I've studied these issues for six years."
The lack of black officers who lead infantry, armor and field artillery battalions and brigades — there are no black colonels at the brigade level this year — threatens the Army's effectiveness, disconnects it from American society and deprives black officers of the principal route to top Army posts, according to officers and military sociologists. Fewer than 10 percent of the active-duty Army's officers are black compared with 18 percent of its enlisted men, according to the Army.
The problem is most acute in its main combat units: infantry, armor and artillery. In 2014, there was not a single black colonel among those 25 brigades, the Army's main fighting unit of about 4,000 soldiers. Brigades consist of three to four battalions of 800 to 1,000 soldiers led by lieutenant colonels. Just one of those 78 battalions is scheduled to be led by a black officer in 2015.
Leading combat units is an essential ticket to the Army's brass ring. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the Army's chief of staff, commanded artillery units; his predecessor, Gen. Martin Dempsey, led armored units, and is now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"The issue exists. The leadership is aware of it," says Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis, the Army's chief of public affairs. Lewis is a helicopter pilot who has commanded at the battalion and brigade levels and is African-American. "The leadership does have an action plan in place. And it's complicated."
Among the complications: expanding the pool of minority candidates qualified to be officers, and helping them choose the right military jobs they'll need to climb the ranks, Lewis says.
To be sure, there are black officers who have attained four stars. Gen. Lloyd Austin, an infantry officer, leads Central Command, arguably the military's most critical combatant command as it oversees military operations in the Middle East. Another four-star officer, Gen. Vincent Brooks, leads U.S. Army Pacific, and Gen. Dennis Via runs Army Materiel Command, its logistics operation.
The concern, however, is for Army's seed bed for four-star officers — the combat commands from which two-thirds of its generals are grown. They're unlikely to produce a diverse officer corps if candidates remain mostly white.
"It certainly is a problem for several reasons," says Col. Irving Smith, director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Smith is also an African-American infantry officer who has served in Afghanistan. "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."
Black officers at the top ranks of the brass show young minority officers what they can achieve. Their presence also signals to allies in emerging democracies like Afghanistan that inclusive leadership is important. Diverse leadership, research shows, is better able to solve complex problems such as those the Army confronted in Iraq and Afghanistan, Smith said.
"It comes down to effectiveness," Smith said. "Diversity and equal opportunity are important, but most people don't point out that it makes the Army more effective."
The Problem
The Army's — and the Pentagon's — main ground fighting force remains the Army's infantry, armor and artillery units, although aviation and engineering units are also considered combat arms. Many of their names have become familiar to the American public after more than a decade of war: The 101st Airborne Division; the 82nd Airborne Division; the 10th Mountain Division.
They share a proud history of tough fights and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. They also share a lack of black leaders. In all, eight of 10 of the Army's fighting divisions do not have a black battalion commander in their combat units.
(For now, they also lack women. The military plans to open combat roles to women in 2016.)
USA TODAY obtained the Army's list of battalion and brigade commanders. Several officers familiar with the personnel on them identified the black officers, which the Army refused to do. The paper considered officers in infantry, armor and field artillery — the three main combat-arms branches.
The results: In 2014, there is not a single black commander among its 25 brigades; there were three black commanders in its 80 battalion openings.
In 2015, there will be two black commanders of combat brigades; and one black commander among 78 battalions openings.
"It's command. If you don't command at the (lieutenant colonel) level, you're not going to command at (the colonel level)," says Army Col. Ron Clark, an African-American infantry officer who has commanded platoon, company, battalion and brigade level. "If you don't command at the (colonel) level, you're not going to be a general officer."
Capt. Grancis Santana, 33, knows about the long odds he faces as an artillery officer hoping to become a colonel.
He found few black officers in his specialty — about two of 20 when he was a lieutenant, and about three of 30 when he made captain.
"It's not a good feeling when you're one of the few," Santana said. "There was no discrimination; there are just not a lot of people like you."
A key reason is the paucity of black officers graduated by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, its ROTC programs and Officer Candidate School.
For instance, the newly minted officer classes of 2012 and 2013 in combat arms remained mostly white, according to data released by the Army. Of the 238 West Point graduates commissioned to be infantry officers in 2012, 199 were white; seven were black. At Officer Candidate School, which accepts qualified enlisted soldiers and graduates with four-year degrees, 66 received commissions as infantry officers — 55 were white, none was black. The figures remained nearly unchanged for 2013.
The downsizing of the Army is having a disproportional effect on African-American officers. From the pool of officers screened, almost 10 percent of eligible black majors are being dismissed from the Army compared with 5.6 percent of eligible white majors, USA TODAY reported in early August. The Army is cutting 550 majors and about 1,000 captains as the Army seeks to reduce its force to 490,000 soldiers by the end of 2015.
The Causes
Two forces seem to reinforce the lack of black officers in combat command. For decades, young black men have tended to choose other fields, including logistics. With fewer role models and mentors in combat specialties, those fields have been seen as less welcoming to African-American officers.
Irving Smith remembers his parents being "heartbroken" that he chose infantry.
"African Americans have historically used the armed forces as a means of social mobility," says Smith, who joined the infantry, has risen to the rank of colonel and now is professor and director of sociology at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. "That is certainly true for African Americans who have used the armed forces as a bridging opportunity (to new careers)."
Parents, pastors and coaches of young black men and women considering the Army often don't encourage them to join the combat specialties.
"Why would you go in the infantry?" Smith says of a common question. "Why would you want to run around in the woods and jump out of airplanes, things that have no connection to private businesses? Do transportation. Do logistics. That will provide you with transferable skills."
Developing marketable skills has been a key motivation for many African Americans, said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland. That has often meant driving a truck, not a tank.
"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.
Clark, who now works at the Pentagon, wasn't encouraged initially to join the infantry. His father enlisted in 1964 and had an Army career in food service.
"He grew up in a small town in southern Louisiana in the middle of Jim Crow South," Clark says. "He was tired of having someone telling him where to sit on a bus, which water fountain to drink from and which bathroom he could use."
At age 11, the younger Clark remembers climbing on a tank when the family was stationed in Grafenwoehr, Germany. The U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983 sealed the deal for him: He wanted to be infantryman.
"I wanted to be an Airborne Ranger in a tree," Clark says, "and my dad was not having it. He said, 'Nope, you are not going following my footsteps. I want you to go to college.'"
The compromise, after his father had him speak with an African-American brigade executive officer named Larry Ellis, was to enroll at West Point. Ellis went on to become a four-star general, and Clark graduated from the academy in 1988.
Clark and Irving remain exceptional cases.
The downsizing of the Army is having a disproportional effect on African-American officers. From the pool of officers screened, almost 10 percent of eligible black majors are being dismissed from the Army compared with 5.6 percent of eligible white majors, USA TODAY reported in early August. The Army is cutting 550 majors and about 1,000 captains as the Army seeks to reduce its force to 490,000 soldiers by the end of 2015.
The Army's Response
The problem has attracted attention at the Army's highest ranks. In March, Army Secretary John McHugh and Odierno, the chief of staff, issued a directive aimed at diversifying the leadership of its combat units.
USA TODAY obtained a copy of the memo, which notes that the Army historically has drawn the majority of its generals from combat fields, specifically "Infantry, Armor and Field Artillery." For at least two decades, however, young minority officers have selected those fields in the numbers necessary to produce enough generals.
"African Americans have the most limited preference in combat arms, followed by Hispanic and Asian Pacific officers," the memo states. While black officers make up 12 percent of Army officers in all competitive specialties, they make up just 7 percent of the Army's infantry, armor and artillery officers. For junior officers, that figure is lower, 6 percent.
Minority groups need a "critical mass" of about 15 percent to feel they have a voice, Smith says.
The Army's plan calls for enhanced recruiting and mentoring for minority officers, particularly in combat fields, tracking their progress and encouraging mentorship.
Mentors needn't be of the same race, Clark and Lewis say. Lewis noted that several of his closest mentors were white officers, including retired general Richard Cody, who retired as Army vice chief of staff. Cody advised him to spend time at the Army's National Training Center, in the California desert. It paid off, Lewis says.
"Everyone does not have to look like you," Lewis says. "You have to be able to receive mentorship, leadership. And you have to follow some of that. You may have to spend some time at a really hard place for a bit."
Byron Bagby, a retired African-American two-star artillery officer, applauds the Army for acknowledging the problem and taking steps to address it. He cautions progress will be slow. Bagby retired in 2011 from a top post with NATO in the Netherlands.
"We're not going to solve this tomorrow, or a year from now," Bagby says.
Smith has another suggestion for the Army. Ask an in-house expert: him.
The brass could also stop by his office for a chat, he says.
"I've never had anybody from the Department of the Army come to me. I'm a sociologist. I've studied these issues for six years."
Officers
Diversity
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 104
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How many minorities do you see in combat units, regardless of rank? Not many. As CPT (Join to see) stated, most tend to pick logistics or signal. And to that I'll add transportation. A lot of it could simply have to do with numbers.
According to the US Census, this is what America looks like:
White, percent, 2013 77.7%
Black or African American, percent, 2013 13.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native, percent, 2013 1.2%
Asian, percent, 2013 5.3%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2013 0.2%
According to a DoD demographics report from 2012, only 30.3% of active servicemembers identify themselves as a minority and only 24.5% of Reservists/Guardsmen identify themselves as a minority.
I think that all it has to do with is numbers and what minorities are deciding to do. You can't promote people that just aren't there.
According to the US Census, this is what America looks like:
White, percent, 2013 77.7%
Black or African American, percent, 2013 13.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native, percent, 2013 1.2%
Asian, percent, 2013 5.3%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2013 0.2%
According to a DoD demographics report from 2012, only 30.3% of active servicemembers identify themselves as a minority and only 24.5% of Reservists/Guardsmen identify themselves as a minority.
I think that all it has to do with is numbers and what minorities are deciding to do. You can't promote people that just aren't there.
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SSgt (Join to see)
SSG (Join to see) - Though in Miami and Tampa, whites and blacks are in the minority and probably is true in places like California and New Mexico for example. We didn't have many weather forecasters that were black but the one I knew may have been the best of them all. IMHO.
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Is not about race, is about what a SM as a person want to do. I'm a Cuban born and raced with dark skin and broken English but that don't hold me down the day I decided to become an warrant officer, is all about you and how far you want to go get it
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SSgt (Join to see)
CW3 (Join to see) - When I was in Tampa we were in the minority (whites and blacks) Out of 70 workers, 63 or so were Cuban. As a white guy I felt being different but at the same time an opportunity to prove myself and who wants to be a quitter or loser?
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This is a difficult topic to say something w/o offending someone, so I apologize up front. When I was in, we were faced with a similar recruiting issue, why are we not getting enough minorities in the guard? None of us, not event the temporary minority committee of NG personnel they put together to figure out the issue could really come up with a reasonable answer. We set up recruiting events geared towards minority groups an run in areas of the state where minority populations were prevalent and our numbers didn't change after 2 years. Numbers and percentages are based on other numbers and percentages and IMHO that has never been sound reasoning for calculations like "almost 10 percent of eligible black majors are being dismissed from the Army compared with 5.6 percent of eligible white majors. If there are less officers of one race than of another and overall there are less of one race vs. another in the entire population then unless the percentages carry through from entire population to military population there will never be an accurate comparison.
What I find disheartening, even when we were doing the recruiting is that the majority population seems to get "blamed" for the issue. Our command came down to each company commander - at that time it was 3 white (I was one) and 2 Latino commanders in our Bn and wanted to know what we could do better. We had plenty of Latino representation in the NG but why not enough Black or Asian? Bottom line from State Command was - what were "we" collectively doing wrong?
Just as a side note COL Javier "Alex" Reina one of my fellow Latino company commanders was recently promoted to COL and is taking command of our unit, the 43rd MP Bde in 2 weeks.
What I find disheartening, even when we were doing the recruiting is that the majority population seems to get "blamed" for the issue. Our command came down to each company commander - at that time it was 3 white (I was one) and 2 Latino commanders in our Bn and wanted to know what we could do better. We had plenty of Latino representation in the NG but why not enough Black or Asian? Bottom line from State Command was - what were "we" collectively doing wrong?
Just as a side note COL Javier "Alex" Reina one of my fellow Latino company commanders was recently promoted to COL and is taking command of our unit, the 43rd MP Bde in 2 weeks.
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CPT (Join to see)
Someday people will figure out that when a situation has been created over decades, it's not going to be fixed in a year or two. Even after in-roads are created, people will have to agree to be pioneers. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be the first black kid to ever attend a white school in the segregated south - thankfully, that's not what we are dealing with here. But there is a difference between toughing it out for 3-4 years to pave the way for others and asking someone to tough it out for 20+ years.
As far as offending, I wish we could talk more openly about race. Until we can be comfortable talking, we cannot ever hope to have some kind of unity.
As far as offending, I wish we could talk more openly about race. Until we can be comfortable talking, we cannot ever hope to have some kind of unity.
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SSgt (Join to see)
MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca - I cannot tell you how many times that people assumed I was smart (man I fooled them) LOL just because I was white. When an environment becomes conducive to advancement people become encouraged by their leaders to achieve and the notions are replaced with modified perceptions and goals setting.
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SFC Clark Adams
In my years of service. I served with the full spectrum of Soldiers good , bad, lazy, hard chargers , you name it enlisted and officers of all races and ethnicities. But one day in discussing my son's upcoming commissioning with him, it struck me that over the years the only NCO's that had recommended me to be promoted at a unit level were all Black men. When this reality struck me I sat down and looked at my past NCOERs and it was apparent to me that only two White supervisors had actually mentored me and pushed for me to advance one a Warrant Officer the other an SFC. There was no obvious discrimination but the career recommendations and rating from others were blase in retrospect. I just didn't recognize it at the time. Officer Evaluation are so nuanced that a single phrase could sink you in the eyes of a board, so having a mentor who will sit you down and work with you to make sure you are not ruined by these nuances and career choices is imperative. Many Black officers don't or didn't have this as part of their career and either don't advance or leave the service. In reading books by successful Black Officers the common thread was they had someone higher believe in them and take a chance on them by providing a critical opportunity. Colin Powell writes of his being given extra time to complete his Masters Degree let alone even being accepted into the program with his academic shortcomings, Jerry Curry MG also write of his efforts to obtain a Battalion Command. Smart, educated, hard working Black men & women are premium individuals in our society, if the Army or military in general wants them to serve there must be a vigorous and ongoing effort to recruit and demonstrate that these folks are valuable to the organization.
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Fewer than 10% of the Army's active duty officers are black. According to current govt statistics, there are 45.7 million blacks in the US. Of those, 4.58 million hold college degrees. 10.02% of blacks hold college degrees. You have to have a college degree to be an officer. 10% have degrees, ~10% are officers. I fail to see why this should come as a surprise to anyone.
FWIW, 2 of my last 3 BDE commanders (O6) were black. 3 of my last 4 DCOs (O5) were black. 33% of our branch chiefs (O6) are black. I would estimate that almost half of the officers in my current unit are black. When I was a PL, of the 3 PLs in my battery, I was the only one who was not black. I don't know where they get these numbers from, but if my experience is any indication, there must be an awful lot of units out there with all white officers. Because over the course of my career, there have been way more than 10% black officers in my units.
FWIW, 2 of my last 3 BDE commanders (O6) were black. 3 of my last 4 DCOs (O5) were black. 33% of our branch chiefs (O6) are black. I would estimate that almost half of the officers in my current unit are black. When I was a PL, of the 3 PLs in my battery, I was the only one who was not black. I don't know where they get these numbers from, but if my experience is any indication, there must be an awful lot of units out there with all white officers. Because over the course of my career, there have been way more than 10% black officers in my units.
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in my experience there has been a lacK of interest overall based on the preponderance of evidence that I observed while assigned to the 3rd INF (TOG). Now, granted this was many years ago, but most (that I incountered) do not see combat arms as most desireable. Choosing instead combat support for their career endeavors. Perhaps the answer is the selection process at ROTC and West Point. The Army should have mechanism in place to pick more minorities during these ascensions.
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We need to release this obsession with race, gender, sexual orientation and refocus on professionalism, knowledge and the ability to lead, coach, teach and mentor soldiers.
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I can't speak on statistics or figures, but as a commissioning source that produced over 115 2LTs in the last 4 years the vast majority of minorities(Asian, Black, and Pacific Islander) approximately 14 Cadets in this program chose Combat Service Support or Combat Support units as their primary branch choice. Most choices revolved around transferable skills to corporate America in logistics, supply, and project management. I certainly don't discourage combat arms choices, but if a Cadet is making a solid decision and career plan I can't dissuade him/her from that choice.
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SFC A.M. Drake
Agreed sir! Just going back from a historical perspective minorities have picked those jobs that are transferable to the civilian market...or the long term approach and my family tree in particular goes all the way back to the Civil War....now if I can just get my son to joint service
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Personally, I don't care what skin color my leaders have so long as they are competent. I'm tired of diversity for the sake of diversity. Let the best person of any sex, color, creed, faith lead without looking at the demographics. Melting pot not a salad. The strongest metals are alloys not plated metals.
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How many black officers are eligible for these positions? How many black officers are there at the O-6 rank, period?
One also wonders...is the lack of black officers overall reflective of the reduced rates in college attendance? In which case, what is the best way to improve the numbers...more ROTC scholarships? More targeted recruiting at historic black colleges? An improved process to promoted enlisted personnel to officers?
OR...bear with me here...should we select officers based on their performance rather than based on race? Potentially even getting rid of the Army standard of sending a picture along with the records (the Air Force does records-only promotions, accompanied by a recommendation from the senior rater in the chain...from O-3 to O-4, the senior rater is typically an O-6).
One also wonders...is the lack of black officers overall reflective of the reduced rates in college attendance? In which case, what is the best way to improve the numbers...more ROTC scholarships? More targeted recruiting at historic black colleges? An improved process to promoted enlisted personnel to officers?
OR...bear with me here...should we select officers based on their performance rather than based on race? Potentially even getting rid of the Army standard of sending a picture along with the records (the Air Force does records-only promotions, accompanied by a recommendation from the senior rater in the chain...from O-3 to O-4, the senior rater is typically an O-6).
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Dunno if this has already been said, but if we start practicing civilian-style EO hiring procedures where we shuffle minorities into a spot so that we can say [hyperbole example] "We have 50% white guys and 50% black guys in our Infantry Officer corps!" then we have a problem. Should be the best qualified for the job, period. There is no colour in the Army except Army Green.
And we probably need to do more to recruit the ideal candidates, of any ethnicity, that we want. Make it attractive, make a publicity blast, things like that. Oh, and funny recruiting commercials. Everyone likes comedy.
And we probably need to do more to recruit the ideal candidates, of any ethnicity, that we want. Make it attractive, make a publicity blast, things like that. Oh, and funny recruiting commercials. Everyone likes comedy.
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