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Strides, hurdles still for blacks in military
By Lolita C. Baldor
Associated Press
Jul 24, 2008
WASHINGTON - Blacks have made great strides in the military since it was integrated 60 years ago, but they still struggle to gain a foothold in the higher ranks, where less than 6 percent of U.S. general officers are African American. At a ceremony commemorating the day President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces, military officials and black leaders said the United States must not rest on its laurels.
"My hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African Americans will staff the armed forces at the highest levels," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a crowd that included many black former service members.
While blacks constitute about 17 percent of the total force, they are just 9 percent of all officers, according to data obtained and analyzed by the Associated Press.
The rarity of blacks in the top ranks is apparent in one startling statistic: Only one of the 38 four-star generals or admirals serving as of May was black. And just 10 black men have ever gained four-star rank, according to the Pentagon.
As a result, younger African American service members have few mentors of their own race. And as the overall percentage of blacks in the service falls, particularly in combat careers that lead to top posts, the situation seems unlikely to change.
Still, officials this week can point to some historic gains by blacks in the services as the Pentagon commemorates Truman's signing of an executive order on July 26, 1948, mandating the end of segregation in the military.
Best known among the four-stars is retired Gen. Colin Powell, who later became the first black secretary of state, under President Bush.
In a stirring salute yesterday in the Capitol Rotunda, Powell said that as a youngster in 1948, he did not think he could rise to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But when he joined the military 10 years later, "they no longer cared whether I was black or white, immigrant kid or not," Powell told the crowd, which was dotted with the red blazers of Tuskegee Airmen - the first group of black fighter pilots allowed into the U.S. Army Air Corps that flew in World War II.
According to Pentagon data, as of May:
5.6 percent of the 923 general officers or admirals were black.
Eight blacks were three-star lieutenant generals or vice admirals.
Seventeen were two-star major generals or rear admirals.
Twenty-six were one-star brigadier generals or rear admirals.
Three of the black one-stars were women.
The Army has led the way with black officers, with nearly double the percentage at times over the last three decades as the other services. Blacks constituted 11 percent to 12 percent of Army officers during that time, compared with 4 percent to 8 percent in the Navy, Air Force and Marines.
The reasons for the lack of blacks in the higher ranks are many and complex, ranging from simple career choices to Congress and family recommendations. Most often mentioned is that black recruits are showing less interest in pursuing combat jobs, which are more likely to propel them through officer ranks.
In 1998, nearly a quarter of all black active-duty officers were in combat fields. As of this month, that had fallen to 20 percent, vs. nearly 40 percent for nonblacks, according to Pentagon data.
This year, roughly half of all black active-duty officers gravitated toward supply, maintenance, engineering and administrative jobs - almost double the rate of nonblack officers.
Retired Gen. Johnnie E. Wilson, another of the military's few black four-stars, said the military had worked hard to create mentoring and outreach programs that identify and encourage minority officers. But, he said, the services have to do more marketing and recruiting.
Copyright 2008
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