COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Youth of Color
Uncle Sam really wants usted
Linda Bilmes, latimes
August 21, 2005
THE PENTAGON IS facing its most serious manpower challenge since the draft ended in 1973.The Army, the Army National Guard, the Marines and the Reserves are struggling to meet their recruitment targets. Applications to West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy have dropped between 10% and 20%. Recruitment among African Americans - who make up nearly one-quarter of active duty forces despite being only 13% of the U.S. population - has fallen by 40% in the face of strong community opposition to the Iraq war. New enlistment of women has dropped by 23%.
These shortfalls come despite ever-higher enlistment and retention bonuses and reduced fitness and age standards.
The Pentagon has decided that the solution to the problem lies in one statistic: Latinos make up less than 10% of the active-duty forces, but they comprise 16% of the 18- to 24-year-old U.S. population.
This rapidly growing population is poorer and more likely to be underemployed than the average for the age group and has a lower rate of college attendance than whites or blacks, which ought to make it prime material for recruiters. Latinos already in the military are disproportionately in the low ranks of the Marines and the Army, serving as front-line troops.
The Pentagon has publicly stated that it wants to double the number of Latinos enlisting, and it is focusing hardest on areas with a high Latino population but relatively low enlistment. Calculating what it calls a "production to population" ratio, the Pentagon's top four target markets are Los Angeles, the rest of Southern California, Phoenix and Sacramento.
The military is arming itself to put the right messages in front of its targets. The Army has purchased the best market research, including the "Yankelovich Hispanic Monitor," which divides the Latino population into 12 distinct market segments based on level of "acculturation and life stage," and commissioned Rand Corp. to study barriers to enlistment.
The Yankelovich research found some attitudes that present "recruiting challenges."
For example, two-thirds of Latinos agree with the statement, "People's main responsibility is to themselves and their families, not to making the world a better place," compared with only half of whites. More than double the number of Latinos, compared with whites, felt the need to be "hip and cool" and "to keep up with the latest trends in movies, music and fashion." And 71% were more inclined to purchase things advertised in Spanish - up from 55% 10 years ago.
The military's communications plan is based on these findings.
"We search for cultural insights and determine how to leverage Hispanic values and beliefs," said a representative of Cartel Creativo, the San Antonio-based advertising company that has developed the Army's current "Yo Soy el Army" ad campaign.
A key finding was that young Latinos are motivated more by family approval than by money.
Consequently, much of the advertising focuses on convincing mothers and fathers that they can be proud of a child's Army career. Univision, Telemundo and Spanish-language radio are saturated with advertisements for the Army. The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps is an increasingly common presence in high schools with large Latino populations, thanks in part to the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires schools to grant access and student information to military recruiters (unless parents refuse by notifying the school in writing).
One of the Army's new recruitment programs is the "Hispanic H2 Tour," featuring a customized Hummer, produced by Latino Sports Marketing of San Diego, designed so teenagers can try out interactive video simulations on multiple screens. The H2 tour visits car shows, county fairs, baseball games and other events.
Another tactic has been to dangle the prospect of citizenship. The JROTC produces a "Recruiting Play Book," which advises recruiters that one way to appeal to Latino prospects may be their desire "to apply for citizenship immediately." Shortly before the Iraq war began, President Bush signed an executive order allowing noncitizen permanent residents to serve in the military and to apply for citizenship on a fast-track basis. Since then, about 20,000 noncitizens (mostly Latino) have served in the military and become U.S. citizens. The order also allows noncitizen soldiers killed in combat to be granted posthumous citizenship. This also helps family members of the fallen soldier to obtain citizenship.
The Dream Act, now pending in Congress, would grant permanent residency to the children of illegal immigrants if they graduate from two years of college or serve two years in the military.
The Pentagon has already ordered 40,000 soldiers to stay in Iraq beyond their agreed return dates. With the military stretched so thin, some in Congress and the military are whispering the unthinkable word: "draft."
"I just begin to wonder at what point we can continue to buy a force", said Rep. John M. McHugh (R-N.Y.) at a meeting of the House Armed Services subcommittee on recruiting last month.
Throughout history, nations have sent their poorest to be foot soldiers. In that long, sad tradition, Uncle Sam is now beckoning its most recent immigrants to fight this war so the rest of us don't have to.
who was 6 when she traveled through the Southern California desert with her mother to enter America illegally. "Nobody can kick me out of here.
My rights will be defended."
In exchange, Quintero-Espinoza and her comrades assumed
responsibilities and risks, including being sent to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. Phone,
24, the airman first class who came from Burma in 2002, didn't hesitate to
volunteer to serve a nation willing to help him get ahead in life.
"I would be grateful to meet somebody who offers you what you want" in
return for accepting an obligation, said Phone, who became a citizen
about
two years after enlisting. "That's fair -- totally fair -- I think."
A history of service
That deal, with the promise of naturalization, has appealed to millions
of
immigrants and the military throughout American history. The Army, in
particular, has sought out and relied on immigrant recruits, especially
during wars.
In the 1840s, almost half of all recruits were not U.S. citizens, said
Conrad Crane, director of the Army Military History Institute at the
Army
War College in Carlisle, Penn. "They're just right off the boat,
basically."
During the Civil War, the government promised citizenship to
immigrants,
and recruiters sailed overseas to make the pitch. Noncitizens
constituted
as much as 20 percent of the 1.5 million-man Union Army.
"Some of them were attracted, of course, by glory; some of them by a
chance
for adventure," Crane said. "For a lot of them, citizenship is the
promise."
So many immigrants populated the ranks during World War I that the Army
was
dubbed the "American foreign legion" in Europe. After the war, an Army
unit
of 14 nationalities toured the United States to recruit immigrants,
touting
the promise of naturalization.
Many immigrants fought in World War II, but patriotism more than
citizenship drove enlistment, Crane said. Conscription also helped fill
the
ranks and continued to do so until the all-volunteer military returned
in
the 1970s.
Military resource
Given that history, Bush's executive order fast-tracking citizenship
was no
surprise, Crane said. With the Iraq war in its fourth year and military
recruiters struggling, speedy naturalization can attract volunteers and
is
a fitting reward.
"When times get tough to fill the Army and immigrants are available,
they're a resource," Crane said.
Despite raising enlistment bonuses and offering other new incentives,
the
Army has had a tough time attracting people. It missed its target last
year
by 6,600 recruits. April was its worst month effort since last summer.
The military typically accepts only U.S. citizens or legal residents.
Illegal immigrants have slipped in, in some cases with fake citizenship
or
immigration documents, said Stock, the U.S. military academy professor.
As a result of Bush's order, illegal immigrants serving honorably on
active
duty and meeting other requirements are eligible to apply for
citizenship,
Stock said. Also, a new law gives the military the authority to enlist
at
any time anyone, even an illegal immigrant, whose enlistment is deemed
"vital to the national interest."
"They could form a foreign legion right now," Stock said. "I get calls
all
the time from illegal immigrants who want to join the military."
For the most part, recruiters have not targeted noncitizens, said
Douglas
Smith, spokesman for the Army's recruiting command. Recruiting that
targets
populations of noncitizens likely accounts for at least some of the
noncitizen recruits, he said.
California's Army National Guard recruiters do not systematically seek
noncitizens, Guard officials said. They do point out that soldiers can
get
on the naturalization fast track, said spokeswoman Lt. Toni Gray.
"For us, noncitizens contribute valuable language and cultural
expertise,"
Gray said. "The value of their skills, however, is often surpassed by
their
sincere appreciation and commitment to our nation."
Noncitizens have been military standouts, according to a May 2005 study
by
the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research organization
serving the military. For instance, they are about half as likely as
their
U.S.-born comrades to wash out before completing their enlistment.
The military's need for foreign-language speakers recently spurred the
Army
to relax enlistment requirements, including maximum age and English
proficiency, to attract people with such native skills, reported the
Center
for Naval Analyses.
Opposition
Not everyone is pleased at the prospect of increasing the number of
noncitizens in the military.
Among the critics is Krikorian, head of the group that wants stricter
immigration controls. What concerns him is the potential for the
combination of military needs and political pressure from immigration
advocates to widen the ranks and expand benefits for noncitizens.
"This is one of those feel-good issues, at least for politicians," he
said.
"There's no reason that it wouldn't be tacked on to an immigration
bill, if
one were to come up."
Krikorian hasn't much of an argument, says Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El
Monte,
who favors expanded benefits for noncitizen soldiers. The California
congresswoman said immigrants have proved their value to the military
and
have earned their benefits.
"I think he's barking up the wrong tree," Solis said.
Spc. Cristianne Silva, 29, said enlisting in the California Army
National
Guard helped her complete a journey that began eight years ago, when
she
left her native Brazil and illegally entered America in search of a
better
life.
After cleaning houses and doing other jobs, Silva hired an immigration
lawyer and became a legal resident. She learned that her military
service
could help her become a citizen after she joined the Army in 2003 and
was
sent to Iraq.
"I'm still, actually, kind of shocked that I have accomplished this,"
said
Silva, who was naturalized in April in Sacramento.
"After so long of dreaming, now, finally, I can say: Yes, I am a
citizen."
Times staff writer Steven Harmon contributed to this story. Reach Dogen
Hannah at 925-945-4794 or dhannah@cctimes.com.
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