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June 04, 2007 10:51 am
Editor's notes: Hispanics in the Military
Army 11.3 percent
Navy 9.2 percent
Marine Corps 14.6 percent
Air Force 6 percent
Department of Defense overall 9.8 percent
U.S. Civilians age 18 to 44 16.4 percent
Source: Recent Department of Defense report using 2004 data
Missing soldier part of Hispanic wave in military
Today, Hispanics account for nearly 10 percent of U.S. forces.
By Zach Church
CNHI News Service
LAWRENCE, Mass. — When Alex Jimenez joined the U.S. Army, he became one of a growing legion of Hispanic men and women committing a future to the armed forces.
In 1985, less than 4 percent of active military members were Hispanic. Today, Hispanics like Jimenez, of Lawrence, Mass., and now missing in Iraq, account for nearly 10 percent of the forces.
Still, the military has not seen the boost in Hispanic population that the general work force has, according to a Department of Defense report. About 16.4 percent of the national work force between the ages of 18 and 44 are Hispanic.
"The military's increases, on average, have nearly, but not quite, kept pace with the rate of growth of Hispanics in the civilian population during the last 15 years," according to the 2006 report, which uses data from 2004 to analyze population representation in the military.
"However, (the Department of Defense) has not been able to catch up to the percentages of those of Hispanic origin in the civilian labor force," the report reads.
To catch up, military recruiters armed with recruiting materials printed in Spanish are visiting high schools. Some recruiters speak Spanish. Others will find interpreters if needed.
Jimenez is a U.S. citizen, born in Flushing, N.Y. But noncitizen, legal immigrants can join the military - and enroll in a service program to work toward citizenship.
Ken Tinnin, a New Hampshire-based spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps, said there are no recruiting quotas based on race.
"All of our qualifications are the same, regardless of race, color or creed," Tinnin said. "There is no criteria to have 'X' number of Hispanics or African-Americans."
States with large Hispanic populations are fertile territory for recruiters.
"The primary states that pump people into the service, particularly the Marines, are Texas, California, Florida and New York," said Francisco Urena, an Iraq war veteran and the Veterans Services director for the city of Lawrence.
The Marines have had the greatest success recruiting Hispanics. Nearly 15 percent of Marines are Hispanic, compared with only 6 percent in the U.S. Air Force. Just more than 11 percent of the Army and 9.2 percent of the Navy is Hispanic.
In Iraq, 365 Hispanic soldiers have been killed, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that analyzes Department of Defense data about Iraq casualties. They account for 10.69 percent of the 3,415 U.S. troops killed in Iraq as of May 19.
Zach Church writes for The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass.
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