Less people willing to die for Bush
The percentage of new Army recruits who are black has slipped dramatically over the past five years, reflecting a lack of support among African Americans for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as an economy that is providing more enticing options at home, according to Army studies, military experts and recruiters.
Since fiscal 2000, when African Americans made up 23.5 percent of Army recruits, their numbers have fallen steadily to less than 14 percent in this fiscal year, officials said. A similar trend has reduced the number of female Army recruits, who have dropped from 22 percent in 2000 to about 17 percent of this year’s new soldiers.
While it is hard to pinpoint why the drop-off has occurred, the figures reflect particular soft spots in the Army’s effort to recruit and retain a growing all-volunteer force that has repeatedly deployed soldiers into battle since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Though the Army has met its recruiting goals in all but one year since 1990, it is falling far behind this year.