White, Christian and Dead
The more dangerous the military's mission, the more likely those who serve will be White or Hispanic and Christian
You all know that 13 American servicemen and women were killed last week in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, along with a reported 160 Afghans. What will not be noted is that all the Americans killed appeared to be White or Hispanic and that the majority were probably Christian, as well. Not noted, that is, except on White Power and neo-Nazi sites.
If all you knew about military service in this country came from television ads such as USAA (United Services Automobile Association) or other corporate advertisers that like to tout their commitment to service and diversity you might think that between one-third and one-half of those in uniform are Black.
But the truth is: The vast majority of those in uniform are White or Hispanic and Christian, especially in the most dangerous units. In the latter instances – Special Operations in the Army and the Navy Seals - almost all members are White or Hispanic. According to a June 15, 2021 article in Military Times, “As of March 2021, a full 95% of all SEAL and combatant-craft crew (SWCC) officers were white and just 2% were Black, according to Naval Special Warfare statistics provided to the AP. The officers corps of Army Special Forces is 87% white, and also 2% Black.
“The enlisted ranks are only slightly more diverse. About 84% of the Navy SEAL and SWCC enlisted troops are white, and 2% are Black. The greater diversity comes in the number of American Indian, Alaskan Native and those who say they are ‘multiple’ races. The Army’s enlisted special forces are also 84% white, but the percentage of Blacks goes up to 4.” Read the full article here.
As for the Marines, 22.6 percent percent of all members were “Latino or Hispanic” in 2019, more than all other minorities combined, a group that includes American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Multiracial and Other/Unknown. See full article here.
Do you recall the last mass casualty event for American soldiers in Afghanistan, prior to last week? That was August 6, 2011, when a Chinook helicopter with 38 aboard, including 15 Seal Team Six members, was shot down; all aboard perished. Here are their pictures along with short bios.
I guarantee you that the White Power people and neo-Nazis have looked at similar pictures and read similar biographies.
I looked up some demographic data on all servicemen (I’m leaving the role of women aside because that’s for another day, and the vast majority of women are still in support roles). As of 2018, nearly 70 percent of all males in uniform were White; just over 17 percent were Hispanic (all races); and just under 17 percent were Black (some respondents checked more than one box and in other cases “unknown” is listed). Note that this is aggregated data that includes both support units and combat units; most soldiers are in support units. Complete data are here.
Now, for religious affiliation (aggregated data for all service members, both male and female in this instance): As cited by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Institutes of Health, “DoD administrative data focused on active duty personnel show that as of January 2019, approximately 70 percent were recorded as Christian (about 32% no denomination, 20% Catholic, 18% Protestant, 1% Mormon), 2 percent as Atheist or Agnostic, 1 percent as affiliated with an Eastern religion, 0.4 percent each as Jewish or Muslim, and the remainder (about 24%) were reported as ‘other/unclassified/unknown.’” Read the full report here.
What’s the answer, then, to this lack of diversity? Since it is most acute in special operations – the most dangerous sector in which to serve – I’ll cite “Diversity and Inclusion in SOF – Why it Matters and What We Must Do,” a current position paper/memorandum. SOF stands for Special Operations Forces. “We know that our force does not represent the diversity of our larger society – a fact that should give us pause,” it reads. “We have forms of bias that exist in our formation, making the journey of some of our teammates and family members a painful one. Our system creates barriers to accessing a broad range of talent, skills, and perspectives which we genuinely need on our team. These long-standing issues require change in our organizational norms, attitudes, and behaviors.”
Read the full “Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan 2021” here. What may strike you is that all the onus seems to be on the military itself. While diversity of late often refers to BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color; women; and LGBTQ) historically the emphasis has really been on Black Americans (again, you need look no further than corporate-sponsored advertisements for many years to know where the overall societal emphasis is, or just recall John Hope Franklin’s polemics during Bill Clinton’s “dialogue on race” in the 1990s). Americans such as the Tuskegee Airmen fought for the right to serve during World War II, yet trained under White commanders and could fly only in segregated units. Today, when everything is open, the military must fall on the sword and try harder to win the hearts and minds of Black Americans.
There are other issues I may touch on later, namely the socioeconomic status of enlistees, as well as geographic background (but you already know that so many soldiers and sailors come from small towns you’ve never heard of). All I can add is that until the Armed Forces truly reflect the country they are sworn to protect, which includes diverse populations in the broadest sense of the term accepting at least some of the responsibility for the current state of affairs, the White Power people and neo-Nazis will own this issue.