by Craig Trimbach
Foto de Hispanic War Veteran
For the fourth consecutive year, the Army experienced a drop in both quantity and quality of new recruits —and Hispanic military experts contacted by Weekly Report are offering a unique solution: openly recruit undocumented immigrants.
Thousands of young Hispanics who lack papers were brought by their parents into this county as small children, excelled in school and are leading exemplary lives, the Latino experts say.
Army policy states that recruits must be legal residents. But an unknown percent age enlist using false papers or aren’t asked their residency status by recruiters.
Three percent of recruits are identified as “non-citizens” in a new survey by the National Priorities Project.
Army officials confirm that despite reduced standards of entry, the recruitment benchmarks set by the Department of Defense have not been reached.
The survey by the Massachusetts based research group, which publicly opposes the Iraq war, concluded that nearly 25 percent fewer recruits are of “high quality”—high school graduates with military qualification test scores above the 50th percentile—and overall recruitment efforts are down 2.5 percent.
HISPANIC NUMBERS DROPPED
The Hispanic composition fell from 11.8 percent to 10.7 percent from 2005 to 2007.
According to the study’s research director, Anita Dancs, “It had been increasing until 2005 because of Hispanic-focused recruiting efforts.” However, with the cessation of these efforts, “youths who have more options are not going into an unnecessary war,” she said.
While Hispanics represent 15 percent of the U.S. population, the steady decline in recruiting numbers almost guarantees under-representation in the armed services.
What should the Army do?
In a surprising show of solidarity, the Hispanic military experts support undocumented immigrants’ entry into the armed services as a way to serve their country and earn a faster path to citizenship.
The chairman of senior advisors for the Hispanic War Veterans of America, Major General (ret.) Al Zapanta explained that Hispanic recruitment has been frustrated by a lack of information in predominantly Hispanic schools and language barriers on qualification tests. “A large portion of young Hispanics drop out of high school and cannot be recruited,” he said.
Zapanta added that young Hispanics lack high-ranking military officers to emulate. “Currently, only three are General officers.
HispanicWarVeterans of America national secretary Jess Quintero stated, “By and large, the military doesn’t appear to be an attractive option…” but “Hispanics are patriotic. They serve with pride. We know the services are hurting for recruits. We should support undocumented troops.’’
LATINOS ‘ABOVE AVERAGE’
Former commander of coalition forces, Lieutenant General (ret.) Ricardo Sanchez agreed, “The Army is working very hard to alleviate the disparity,” he told Weekly Report. He added that Hispanics under his command were “above the average” and ‘far exceeded” his expectations of soldiers, thanks to a tradition of competition machismo among Hispanic troops.
Louis Caldera, the only Latino everto serve as Army Secretary, added, “The Army can provide upward social mobility and job skills to Hispanics without resources.
There are many who are undocumented and willing to serve as a path to residency and citizenship. Recruiters have asked me for help getting these kids to serve.”
Caldera’s message to the Army is the same today as it was in 2001: “The country must learn to tap into the Hispanic community at every opportunity. We’re losing talent we can’t afford to waste. Hispanics are critical to the future success of the Army.” Hispanic Link.
