Liberal lie debunked
11-30-2005, 07:42 AM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 8,561
Liberal lie debunked
Well, according to the Dem's, anytime you're wrong, it's a lie. I'd be generous and just say they were wrong on this one (Remember Charlie Rangle?)
Military Demographics Representative of America
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2005 – The U.S. military is not a "poor man's force."
That's the conclusion Defense Department officials reached following examination of enlisted recruiting statistics gathered over the past year.
"There is an issue of how representative of America is the force," said Curt Gilroy, the director of DoD's accessions policy in the Pentagon.
DoD tracks "representativeness" - as Gilroy calls it - very closely. And representativeness can take a whole host of forms - race, education, social status, income, region and so on. "When you look at all of those, you find that the force is really quite representative of the country," he said in a recent interview. "It mirrors the country in many of these. And where it doesn't mirror America, it exceeds America."
The data shows the force is more educated than the population at large. Servicemembers have high school diplomas or the general equivalency diploma. More servicemembers have some college than the typical 18- to 24-year-olds. "To carry representativeness to the extreme, we would have to have a less-educated force or we would want a lower-aptitude force," Gilroy said.
The study is part of DoD's focus to bring the best recruits into the military. The services - who are responsible for manning, equipping and training the force - take this data and apply it to recruiting efforts.
The force is a volunteer force; no one is coerced into serving. The military is one option young people have after high school. Military service offers money for college - money a large segment of the population doesn't have. For those people, the military is an attractive option.
Many young people who don't yet know what they want to do see the military as a place to serve and decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives, rather than take a low-paying job or do nothing.
Critics say the U.S. military has too many African-Americans as compared to the population and not enough Hispanics or Asian-Americans. "We don't recruit for race," Gilroy said. "We have standards, and if people meet those standards, then should we say they are not allowed in because of race? That would be wrong."
The statistics show the number of African-American servicemembers is dropping. That concerns Gilroy and his office. The military is a leader in equal opportunity in the United States, he said, adding that few, if any, Fortune 500 companies can match the equal employment opportunity record of the military. The office is studying why young black men and women are not signing up.
The office also is studying the Hispanic population in America. Census records say Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Young Hispanic men and women have a strong tendency to serve in the military, though so far, only the Marine Corps has been "able to break the code" to get significant numbers of recruits, Gilroy said.
On the socioeconomic side, the military is strongly middle class, Gilroy said. More recruits are drawn from the middle class and fewer are coming from poorer and wealthier families. Recruits from poorer families are actually underrepresented in the military, Gilroy said.
Other trends are that the number of recruits from wealthier families is increasing, and the number of recruits from suburban areas has increased. This also tracks that young men and women from the middle class are serving in the military.
Young men and women from urban areas are not volunteering, Gilroy said. In fact, urban areas provide far fewer recruits as a percentage of the total population than small towns and rural areas.
DoD and the services will use these statistics and more to craft their recruiting policies, Gilroy said.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2005 – The U.S. military is not a "poor man's force."
That's the conclusion Defense Department officials reached following examination of enlisted recruiting statistics gathered over the past year.
"There is an issue of how representative of America is the force," said Curt Gilroy, the director of DoD's accessions policy in the Pentagon.
DoD tracks "representativeness" - as Gilroy calls it - very closely. And representativeness can take a whole host of forms - race, education, social status, income, region and so on. "When you look at all of those, you find that the force is really quite representative of the country," he said in a recent interview. "It mirrors the country in many of these. And where it doesn't mirror America, it exceeds America."
The data shows the force is more educated than the population at large. Servicemembers have high school diplomas or the general equivalency diploma. More servicemembers have some college than the typical 18- to 24-year-olds. "To carry representativeness to the extreme, we would have to have a less-educated force or we would want a lower-aptitude force," Gilroy said.
The study is part of DoD's focus to bring the best recruits into the military. The services - who are responsible for manning, equipping and training the force - take this data and apply it to recruiting efforts.
The force is a volunteer force; no one is coerced into serving. The military is one option young people have after high school. Military service offers money for college - money a large segment of the population doesn't have. For those people, the military is an attractive option.
Many young people who don't yet know what they want to do see the military as a place to serve and decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives, rather than take a low-paying job or do nothing.
Critics say the U.S. military has too many African-Americans as compared to the population and not enough Hispanics or Asian-Americans. "We don't recruit for race," Gilroy said. "We have standards, and if people meet those standards, then should we say they are not allowed in because of race? That would be wrong."
The statistics show the number of African-American servicemembers is dropping. That concerns Gilroy and his office. The military is a leader in equal opportunity in the United States, he said, adding that few, if any, Fortune 500 companies can match the equal employment opportunity record of the military. The office is studying why young black men and women are not signing up.
The office also is studying the Hispanic population in America. Census records say Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Young Hispanic men and women have a strong tendency to serve in the military, though so far, only the Marine Corps has been "able to break the code" to get significant numbers of recruits, Gilroy said.
On the socioeconomic side, the military is strongly middle class, Gilroy said. More recruits are drawn from the middle class and fewer are coming from poorer and wealthier families. Recruits from poorer families are actually underrepresented in the military, Gilroy said.
Other trends are that the number of recruits from wealthier families is increasing, and the number of recruits from suburban areas has increased. This also tracks that young men and women from the middle class are serving in the military.
Young men and women from urban areas are not volunteering, Gilroy said. In fact, urban areas provide far fewer recruits as a percentage of the total population than small towns and rural areas.
DoD and the services will use these statistics and more to craft their recruiting policies, Gilroy said.
11-30-2005, 01:24 PM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lynn, MA
Posts: 884
RE: Liberal lie debunked
And I'm sure the DoD would never fudge the numbers on something like this. After all, it only makes them look better to be able to say their force is made up of middle class and well-to-do recruits rather than the poor folk. I'm not saying which is side of this argument is correct - it was my experience that lower middle class recruits made up the bulk of the people I knew when I was in - but I don't think I'll just accept the DoD's version as gospel.
12-04-2005, 08:05 PM
#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 760
RE: Liberal lie debunked
And you were in when Strange Biller, and you had access to how many of the people in the armed services. So why should we believe your account over the DOD's who have the records for all the recruits.
12-05-2005, 04:43 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dahlonega Ga. USA
Posts: 1,626
RE: Liberal lie debunked
It is amazing what people will believe or disbelieve based on the assertions of almost anybody with access to the press. Charley Rangle is noted for saying the most ridiculous things and then defending them regardless of whether they are based on fact or not. The report released by DoD is anything but conclusive, assertions backed by not one single fact, merely saying they had done a study and found that we really do have a force that is representative of our nation. So why not release some numbers supporting the assertions? This goes for both sides of the argument. When I enlisted in 1966, as I recall, there was not one single question asked as to my family income or education status (other than my own) When I went back into the reserve program in 1974, again no questions about income level or social status. Things had definitely changed though and for the better. The draft had ended and the quality of those being enlisted had improved significantly. Since I have now been retired for around 14 years, I cannot comment on the situation today. I do know that when my son enlisted 9 years ago, he was white, from a family in the upper middle income bracket and had a 4 year degree. If Charley Rangle is correct, he should be proud of those representing his community and attempt to gain some recognition for those individuals that are serving their nation, not using it as a way of gaining personal notoriety and in a negative connotation. As a Member of Congress, Mr. Rangle has access to the demographics required to prove or disprove his assertions, if he is correct, then he should break out the numbers and have them published so we can all see the facts for ourselves.
12-05-2005, 10:02 AM
#7
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lynn, MA
Posts: 884
RE: Liberal lie debunked
ORIGINAL: archer 2
And you were in when Strange Biller, and you had access to how many of the people in the armed services. So why should we believe your account over the DOD's who have the records for all the recruits.
And you were in when Strange Biller, and you had access to how many of the people in the armed services. So why should we believe your account over the DOD's who have the records for all the recruits.
If you read the entire post, you’ll find I was merely pointing out that the DoD has reason to fudge these numbers, so taking them as gospel would be rather silly. If you don’t want to address that and would rather address the nitpicky parts of my post, by all means, feel free, but from this point on you’ll have to play by yourself.
Also, Coastie made excellent points – I don’t remember anyone asking me how much money my parents made when I joined (then again, I was 18, so I probably would have messed it up anyway).
12-05-2005, 10:40 AM
#8
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern California
Posts: 18,165
RE: Liberal lie debunked
If Charley Rangle is correct, he should be proud of those representing his community and attempt to gain some recognition for those individuals that are serving their nation, not using it as a way of gaining personal notoriety and in a negative connotation. As a Member of Congress, Mr. Rangle has access to the demographics required to prove or disprove his assertions, if he is correct, then he should break out the numbers and have them published so we can all see the facts for ourselves.
