Population Representation 2004 - Selected Reserve Enlisted Accessions and Enlisted Force

SELECTED RESERVE ENLISTED ACCESSIONS AND ENLISTED FORCE

Race/Ethnicity. Table 5.3 presents the racial/ethnic makeup of FY 2004 NPS enlisted accessions by Selected Reserve Components. NPS White accessions experienced no, to small changes (0-5 percentage points in either direction) from FY 2003 across all components, with the exception of the USAFR, which experienced a 19 percent increase. The largest change among prior service White accessions also took place in the USAFR, but in the opposite direction with a 20 percent increase. Proportions of both NPS and prior service Black accessions remained fairly stable between FY 2003 and FY 2004, with only slight changes (0-3 percentage points) in either direction. Changes among the proportions of Hispanic accessions were generally small in either direction. Among prior service Hispanic accessions, the USNR experienced the largest change, with a 3 percent increase. All components remained relatively stable in terms of proportions of other minority groups. One exception was the USMCR, which reported no Asian, Pacific Islander or multi-racial accessions in FY 2003. In FY 2004, the USMCR reported 3 percent NPS Asian accessions and 2 percent prior service Asian accessions. Less than one percent of NPS and prior service USMCR accessions were reported as Pacific Islander or multi-racial in FY 2004.

Since the inception of the All Volunteer Force, Blacks have been somewhat overrepresented in the active duty ranks, while Whites and Hispanics have been underrepresented as compared to the nation's youth population as a whole. We would expect this to be reflected in the makeup of the Reserve Forces. Table 5.3, however, demonstrates that in the USMCR and ANG, the proportion of non-prior service Black accessions is lower compared to their representation among the 18- to 24-year-old civilian labor force, the comparable civilian group. In the other components the proportion of non-prior service Black accessions is higher than in the civilian labor force, except for the ARNG where the proportions are about the same (13 and 14 percent, respectively). Hispanics are underrepresented across the board (Table 5.4), with the exception of the USMCR’s prior service recruits. In previous years, Whites also have made up a smaller proportion of Reserve accessions than of the comparison group. In FY 2004, the proportion of NPS White accessions in the ARNG, USMCR, and ANG was higher than in the civilian comparison groups. Prior service White accessions were also higher than in the civilian comparison group in the ANG only.

Table 5.3. FY 2004 Selected Reserve Non-Prior Service and Prior Service Enlisted Accessions, by Race/Ethnicity, and Civilians (Percent)
Race	Army National Guard	Army Reserve	Naval Reserve	Marine Corps Reserve	Air National Guard	Air Force Reserve	Total DoD	Civilians*
NON-PRIOR SERVICE
White	78.9	76.6	60.6	79.1	82.4	66.4	77.0	78.5
Black	13.1	16.0	23.0	5.7	8.3	22.8	13.6	14.0
American Indian & Alaskan Native	0.8	0.7	1.1	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.7	1.0
Asian	2.1	4.8	5.0	3.1	1.3	3.0	3.0	4.1
Pacific Islander	0.0	1.3	1.1	0.5	1.6	2.1	0.7	0.3
Two or more races	0.0	0.0	4.3	0.3	3.7	3.6	0.7	2.1
Unknown	5.2	0.6	5.0	11.1	2.2	1.8	4.4	0.0
PRIOR SERVICE
White	75.5	65.5	58.3	68.8	80.0	71.9	69.4	79.9
Black	16.5	25.3	24.1	11.0	11.3	17.3	20.0	12.6
American Indian & Alaskan Native	0.8	0.7	1.9	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.9	0.8
Asian	1.9	2.4	4.0	2.3	1.3	2.1	2.4	4.8
Pacific Islander	0.0	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.8	0.4	0.3
Two or more races	0.0	0.0	6.6	0.2	1.6	1.8	1.3	1.6
Unknown	5.4	5.4	4.8	16.8	5.1	5.7	5.7	0.0
TOTAL ACCESSIONS
White	77.9	64.1	67.3	72.3	82.5	72.0	73.6
Black	15.3	26.1	18.8	9.6	9.4	19.0	17.3
American Indian & Alaskan Native	0.8	0.6	1.1	0.7	0.8	0.4	0.7
Asian	1.7	2.9	3.6	3.6	2.2	1.5	2.3
Pacific Islander	0.0	1.0	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.4
Two or more races	0.0	0.0	3.1	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.4
Unknown	4.3	5.3	5.9	12.8	4.1	5.9	5.2
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * NPS civilian comparison is 18- to 24-year-old civilians; prior service civilian comparison is 20- to 39-year-old civilian labor force. Also see Appendix Tables C-3 (NPS Race/Ethnicity by Component and Gender) and C-11 (Prior Service Race/Ethnicity by Component and Gender). Source: Civilian data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey File, October 2003 September 2004.

Across the Reserve Components, among female accessions the proportion of Black women was 22 and 32 percent for NPS and prior service, respectively. Among male recruits, Black men, although more numerous than Black women, accounted for only 11 and 17 percent of NPS and prior service accessions, respectively (see Appendix Tables C-3 and C-11).

Table 5.4. FY 2004 Selected Reserve Non-Prior Service and Prior Service Enlisted Accessions, by Race/Ethnicity, and Civilians (Percent)
Ethnicity	Army National Guard	Army Reserve	Naval Reserve	Marine Corps Reserve	Air National Guard	Air Force Reserve		Total DoD	Civilians*
NON-PRIOR SERVICE
Hispanic	7.5	11.8	14.3	5.9	5.1	6.5	8.4		17.7
Not Hispanic	92.5	88.2	85.7	94.1	94.9	93.5	91.6		82.3
PRIOR SERVICE
Hispanic	7.1	11.1	13.4	16.9	6.9	7.5	9.7		17.5
Not Hispanic	92.9	88.9	86.6	83.1	93.1	92.5	90.3		82.5
TOTAL ACCESSIONS
Hispanic	7.9	12.2	10.3	14.6	6.2	7.4	9.2
Not Hispanic	92.1	87.9	89.7	85.4	93.8	92.6	90.8
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * NPS civilian comparison is 18- to 24-year-old civilians; prior service civilian comparison is 20- to 39-year-old civilian labor force. Also see Appendix Tables C-3 (NPS Race/Ethnicity by Component and Gender) and C-11 (Prior Service Race/Ethnicity by Component and Gender). Source: Civilian data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey File, October 2003 - September 2004.

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