US forces study to look at growth of minorities
| Washington
The Brookings Institution will study the racial balance in the US armed forces, Monitor correspondent Stephen Webbe reports. "The decision to go to an all-volunteer army after the Vietnam war carried with it the risk that military ranks might be filled by the poor, uneducated, and minorities," a foundation spokesman says. "While black enlistment in the conscripted army stood at about 12 percent, blacks now comprise over a third of the volunteer force, and their numbers are increasing."
Martin Binkin, a senior Brookings fellow, will assess the effect of this on the armed forces. The study is funded by the Defense Department, the Ford Foundation, and the Edna McConnell Foundation.