Blacks make up 1% of Special Forces...yet 80% NFL?

Stereotypical black kids don't grow up wanting to be gung ho commandos. If the do join the military, usually it's for a career. But the black kids that I knew, that grew up among mostly white friends, had the same aspirations as their white friends. This is more about exposure, than anything.

Hell, the black instructor on this show, Donnie Bowen was the All-Army Modern Combatives Champion, as well as the Special Operations Combatives Program instructor, and SF Weapons SGT.

My father was a lifeguard, and competitive diver. He had me in the water since day one. By the time I was ready to graduate, I'd won a city high school swimming championship, was a lifeguard, WSI, and was SCUBA(open water) certified. I had a Dive Farer contract offered to me faster than you can believe.

The Army Special Forces, known by distinctive green berets, has 234 African-American officers and soldiers in a force of 5,200 men. Blacks make up 4.5 percent of the Green Berets, compared with nearly 24 percent of the male soldiers in the Army.

The Navy has only 31 blacks among its 2,299 Sea-Air-Land, or SEAL, commandos, less than 2 percent of the force. African-Americans constitute nearly 17 percent of the male personnel within the Navy.

And, the Air Force' s special-tactics groups have only eight blacks in a force of 472 men, less than 2 percent. Servicewide, about 14 percent of the Air Force' s male personnel are African-American.

It' s a situation that hasn't been lost on minority members of special-operations forces.


"Those that are perceived as the most elite will have the smallest minority representation," said Capt. Everett Greene, who recently retired as the top-ranking black officer in the Navy SEALs.


Why does it matter if a small segment of the otherwise racially diverse military has so few minority members?


It' s the special-operations forces' missions -- all overseas, often working with foreign governments and often in secret -- that make ethnic diversity a significant issue with the brass.


Top generals and admirals argue that having more minority troops would help bridge language and cultural differences that special-operations forces often encounter in foreign countries.


The dearth of minorities in the elite forces is a sign of a much larger and more serious problem facing America and its armed forces, say sociologists who specialize in the military.


In a democracy, the sociologists argue, the military should reflect of the civilian society -- in economic, cultural and racial diversity.


Today the military, particularly the Army, remains one of the few settings in which blacks routinely boss whites.


Blacks, Latinos, Asians, American Indians and other minorities now make up 34 percent of the military, greater than the 28.5 percent minority representation within the general U.S. population.

The Naval Special Warfare Center is embarking on new marketing and awareness campaigns to reach more minority candidates who have the best odds of becoming Navy SEALs in the hope that those efforts will diversity the commando force.


The campaign is the latest move by Naval Special Warfare Command to boost its recruitment of minorities, particularly African-Americans, to attend the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL course and follow-on SEAL Qualification Training and join the all-male community of special operators — one that historically has been largely white.


The campaign started Oct. 1, but much of the work is just beginning, said Rosemary Heiss, an NSW Recruiting Directorate spokeswoman in Coronado, Calif.
Naval Special Warfare Command hired three contractors for the diversity initiative, which will renew naval special warfare’s outreach to historically black colleges and universities; develop new marketing strategies that focus awareness, screening and recruiting efforts on minority communities; and develop research that identifies the traits of successful BUD/S candidates to hone recruiting.


“Each initiative has a different approach to get a candidate that we want. When you have a multifaceted approach, you start to mesh the different initiatives together to get more successful candidates,” Cmdr. Brodes Hartley, naval special warfare’s force diversity officer, said in a Navy Compass article.


Navy SEAL training is considered among the toughest in the military, with attrition rates from BUD/S average roughly 75 percent. But efforts in recent years, including an expanded recruitment effort and retooled preparatory course at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Ill., are showing signs of easing attrition of potential SEAL and special warfare combatant-craft crewman candidates.


However, overall minority numbers still remain short of existing goals, and minority representation within NSW’s officer and enlisted communities remains much lower than what is reflected in the U.S. population.


Roughly 12.5 percent of the U.S. population is black, a number expected to rise to 13 percent by 2040, according to U.S. Census predictions. But only 10 percent of SEAL officers are minorities — with blacks representing 2 percent of officers — and minorities make up less than 20 percent of enlisted special warfare operators, according to a May contract solicitation for the pilot marketing and outreach program.

Being an athlete says nothing about your mental attitude, intelligence or willingness to work hard. Being an athlete is a way to get rich and it's a life they want.

I am a black man with 20 years service in the Marines/Army National Guard. No special operations experience. Over the years I have known many minorities who have served in combat arms like Infantry but only a handful who were in special operations. Based on my what I have seen the reason that Blacks do not try out for special operations units is that those units are seen as "a white people thing". No one wants to be the only Black guy in the unit.

As others have mentioned many blacks who join the military do so to learn a trade that will transfer over in civilian life like mechanic/engineer/law enforcement. Some people are encouraged to join to make a career out of the military and enjoy benefits of having a pension because it is hard to find a good job back home. I was told by friends and family when I decided to enlist to pick a MOS (occupation field) that involved learning a trade and to avoid the infantry. I believe that part of this stigma comes from the Vietnam era when a large portion of young Black men were drafted into the Army and ending up in combat units. Now this was because of high casualty rates in the infantry of course. After all White draftees were also going to get sent to the infantry. Black people of that generation felt that this was just another form of racism. So I guess the feeling is why die for a country that does not respect you at home?

As far as the 80% of Blacks in pro sports it is all about money. The best and brightest Black athletes are going to try to go pro and get a multi million dollar contract. Here in 2016 the opinion is still that the only way a young Black man can be a success in this country is to get into sports or entertainment.

Not sure where the numbers are coming from that were posted in this thread and others that you have started about this topic but when it comes to the racial makeup of the Army Special Forces and the Navy Seals. I can say from personal experience the numbers in the 1990s were probably twice that. They might be numbers from the 1980s but when it comes to racial surveys things to consider:

1) Not everyone that looks black will identify themselves as black.
2) The term African American is probably as appropriate as Italian American or any other nationality but since so many blacks may not know where their family tree started in Africa it might be a better term than saying Kenyan American?
3) Some folks decline to answer the question of their racial identity in the first place.
4) Being proud of being an American is fine but everyone should also be proud of their family heritage and what was done before them by their ancestors whether they were American or not and since the majority of this country is not Native American that would apply to nearly everyone. Yet the surveys usually are setup to split us up into categories that may not apply to us or that don't represent us. Checking the box for Other or multi-racial is one option but looking at the number of people that will respond to that is still lower than the reality.

I do believe that culture and upbringing plus education not just academic but financial and other forms come into play in motivating people in life. Not everyone that is motivated to take the real SOF challenge does it strictly for love of country. Some are motivated by the adventure, some the challenge or other reasons.

I have no idea where anyone found the numbers for Seal Team Six or Delta since those numbers are classified. The percentage for Seal Team Six could be correct but it is not correct for SFOD.

I would agree that more people need to learn to apply themselves and break the chains for things that are holding them back in life but also realize that some the folks who already have power want to retain it or grow it even more even if that means keeping other people down. Which would need to be discussed in a different thread and not here about a TV show.

Sorry, not sure why but I feel almost dirty having to answer this but since you have raised this topic in other threads I finally felt inclined to answer once. Not sure if you will care at all.