8-Reserve Component Enlisted Force

At the end of FY 1999, the USCG Reserve enlisted force stood at 6,808 up from 6,312 in FY 1998. The race/ethnicity by gender distribution of these enlisted members is presented in Table 8.12.

Table 8.12. Race/Ethnicity by Gender of FY 1999 USCG and DoD Reserve Component Enlisted Members and Civilian Labor Force 1849 Years Old (Percent)
Race/Ethnicity		Coast Guard							DoD
		Male			Female		Total		Male	Female		Total
Reserved Enlisted Members
White		86.0			75.7		84.6		71.4	56.9		69.1
Black		4.4			11.8		5.3		15.8	30.9		18.2
Hispanic		5.6			6.8		5.7		7.9	6.7		7.7
Other		4.1			5.8		4.3		4.9	5.6		5.0
Total		100.0			100.0		100.0		100.0	100.0		100.0
Civilian Labor Force 1849 Years Old
White	Black		Hispanic	Other		Total		Male			Female
71.3	12.3		11.7	4.7		100.0		53.2			46.8
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. Also see Appendix Tables C-17 (Selected Reserve Enlisted Members by Race/Ethnicity, Component, and Gender) and E-32 (Coast Guard Reserve Enlisted Members by Race/Ethnicity and Gender).

Age. In general, USCG Reserve enlisted members tended to be older than the DoD comparison group. Almost 40 percent of USCG Reserve enlisted members were 40 years of age or older, while only 23 percent of the DoD Reserve comparison group fell into this category, but more than 48 percent of the civilian comparison group was 40 or older (Table 8.13). This can be explained, in part, by the proportion of prior service individuals in each Service. The Coast Guard Reserve relies more on prior service recruits to fill its enlisted ranks than the overall DoD Reserve Components (81 and 62 percent prior service accessions in FY 1999, respectively). Therefore, members of the USCG enlisted force joined the Coast Guard Reserve at an older age, on average, than those joining the overall DoD Reserve Components.

Table 8.13. Age and Education Level of FY 1999 USCG and DoD Reserve Component Enlisted Members and Civilians (Percent)
	Coast Guard	DoD	Civilian Comparison
Age			Civilian Labor Force
1719	3.9	7.6	4.9
2024	9.9	19.3	10.0
2529	16.3	18.3	11.1
3034	15.3	16.1	12.0
3539	15.2	15.6	13.6
4044	12.0	9.6	13.8
4549	11.3	6.4	11.8
50+	16.3	7.0	22.7
Unknown	0.0	0.1	0.0
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0
Education Level			18- to 49-Year-Old Civilian Labor Force
Tier 1: Regular High School Graduate or Higher	87.0	97.0	89.0*
Tier 2: GED, Alternative Credentials	12.3	1.4	89.0*
Tier 3: No Credentials	0.7	1.6	11.0
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0
College Experience (Part of Tier 1)	35.0	20.3	56.3
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * Civilian numbers/percentages for education combine Tiers 1 and 2 as civilian data include GED certificates with high school graduate rates. ** Less than one-tenth of one percent. Also see Appendix Tables C-15 (Selected Reserve Enlisted Members by Age Group, Component, and Gender), C-19 (Selected Reserve Enlisted Members by Education, Component, and Gender), E-31 (Coast Guard Reserve Enlisted Members by Age Group and Gender), and E‑33 (Coast Guard Enlisted Members by Education, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity).

Representation Within Occupation. FY 1999 occupational representation of the USCG Reserve enlisted force by gender and race is presented in Table 8.14. Female and Black USCG Reserve enlisted members were overrepresented in the functional support and administration occupational area (45 and 31 percent, respectively, compared to 15 percent for the USCG Reserve as a whole). Relative, proportionally, to DoD, the USCG had more craftsmen, other allied specialists, and service and supply handlers; and fewer electrical/mechanical equipment repairers and medical and dental specialists. Some of the difference between the USCG Reserve and DoD Reserve Components in the medical and dental specialties may be explained by the fact that the USCG uses both internal and external sources (i.e., Public Health Service personnel) for medical/dental services.

Total