US Military Black Service Members – Past and Present

Continued from Last Week

That concern proved to be unfounded. The AVF, relying on youth values, competitive compensation policies, and recruitment strategies, not only continued to attract minorities, but also attracted youth from all areas of the United States and from all socio-economic backgrounds. The Army proved to be attractive to young people because it offered training, steady employment, competitive pay and benefits, and leadership opportunities that were not readily available in the private sector. {End of Excerpt: Department of the Army / Office of Army Demographics}

Since the birth of our country, more than 40 million men and women have served in the United States military forces. Since the integration of the services, it has been a general trend that participation of Blacks in the military usually has been higher, as a percentage of the total number of all participants, than the percentage of Blacks in the overall population. Today, approximately 1.4 million uniformed personnel (approximately 200,000 Blacks) serve in the United States’ military forces, deployed in various numbers in 150 countries. In 2011, there were approximately 2.3 million black military veterans. Many of these Black military veterans are Blacks from the Dallas area that served in the US military forces. Many continue to serve today.