Recently an article hit my email that made me stop and think about our officers in the US ARMY. Are they mainly white males? Of late I've seen a lot of female officers of various races. I've seen plenty of non-white male officers as well. Now I'm wondering if the news article was just biased bullshit.
Read for yourself the article that I read just this morning and tell me what you think. http://www.military.com/news/article/report-too-white-too-male.html?wh=news.
I can't see where discrimination comes into play in choosing who will become an officer candidate. Its not like the points system of the enlisted ranks where that could be considered biased if a particular NCO has a grudge. It does happen. Choosing who will become an officer and who won't is based upon their strength and knowledge. These soldiers have to prove themselves with extensive testing. Its far from the board of the enlisted. I'm not being biased, I'm the wife of an enlisted soldier.
The promotion board for the enlisted means having to study from a generic study guide, proving that you are physically fit, can do your MOS, and that you can shoot for the main part. Sure the soldiers also have to take some classes if they are to get points for education of which is divided into two categories with one being civilian and the other being military. However it can come down to who you know in order to get promoted. I've known soldiers that are still hoping to get promoted and have been in the military for up to seven years without going past the rank of Specialist. If a soldier is in their primary or secondary zone they can be chosen to go to the board. But if the points all of a sudden jacks skyward all the points awarded in the board still might not be enough to get them promoted. Its different with being an officer.
An officer gets promoted not by who they know or a points system, from my understanding it is upon merit. Feel free to correct me on this as I'm not a wife of an officer. The first promotion from 2nd Lt. to 1st Lt. is an automatic one with enough time in rank.
Back to my thoughts on how some are claiming that the higher echelons of the military are primarily white males, as if that is a bad thing. I'd rather it be all males if it means they are qualified. Obviously they are qualified to hold their ranks as they were chosen to be there.
"Efforts over the years to develop a more equal opportunity military have increased the number of women and racial and ethnic minorities in the ranks of leadership. But, the report said, "despite undeniable successes ... the armed forces have not yet succeeded in developing a continuing stream of leaders who are as diverse as the nation they serve."
The military is all about Equal Opportunity. Where else do you see a woman getting the same pay for doing a job that the male does? You don't find that very often in the private sector. That woman reached that rank because she earned it, not because the slot was being held open for a female.
We are a diverse military. Considering the percentages of how many of each race and gender serve in the military the percentages in the higher ranks correspond quite well. Remember all who enter into the military are given the chance to invest in the GI Bill so that they can go to college and get ahead within the military and eventually the civilian sector. If they chose not to take the education benefits I see no reason as to why they should take a slot for a more qualified individual just because their race or sex dictates that they should be holding said position. Take a look at these demographics: http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/docs/demographics/Changing%20Profile%20report%20December%202008.pdf
For a breakdown of statistics look to this website: http://www.2k.army.mil/faqs.htm#demo
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