Active Component Enlisted Applicants

In FY 1998, approximately 347,000 individuals applied to serve in the active enlisted military force (Appendix Table A-1). The distribution of FY 1998 Active Component NPS applicants by race/ethnicity and gender is shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2. Race/Ethnicity and Gender of FY 1998 Active Component NPS Applicants*, by Service (Percent)
	Army	Navy	Marine Corps	Air Force	DoD
MALES
White	60.7	59.2	66.5	70.0	62.6
Black	23.0	20.1	15.0	17.1	20.1
Hispanic	10.8	10.9	12.9	7.1	10.8
Other	5.5	9.8	5.7	5.9	6.5
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
FEMALES
White	50.5	50.3	57.6	60.5	53.0
Black	33.4	28.8	21.0	25.5	30.0
Hispanic	10.1	11.1	13.9	7.2	10.0
Other	6.0	9.8	7.5	6.9	7.1
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
TOTAL
Male	76.0	78.7	89.9	67.9	77.7
Female	24.0	21.3	10.1	32.1	22.3
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * Applicant data reported for FY 1998 are based on the DMDC Edit version of the MEPCOM file, which has been "cleaned" by the edit process. FY 1998 applicant data are consistent with Information Delivery System (IDS) data. However, comparisons of FY 1998 applicant data to data reported in Population Representation reports for FY 1994 or earlier (from unedited MEPCOM files) may show differences. Also see Appendix Tables A-3 (Race/Ethnicity by Service and Gender) and A-4 (Ethnicity by Service).

Seventy-eight percent of the applicants were male, of whom 63 percent were White, 20 percent Black, 11 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent "Other."(17) For female applicants, approximately 53 percent were White, 30 percent Black, 10 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent "Other." Additional statistics on applicant characteristics (e.g., age, education levels, AFQT scores, and marital status, by gender and race/ethnicity) are contained in Appendix A, Tables A-1 through A-8.