No More Urban Officers? How an Uneven ROTC May Change Our Military

An officer's first and ultimate duty is to uphold the Constitution at the pleasure of the President, under advisement from the representative government-Period. Whether than officer is white, black, Asian, Hispanic, or Martian changes that absolutely zero. When I landed on the flight deck of my first ship, I was one of only three "Rural White Boys" in my division. We were predominantly of Hispanic, urban background. Getting to know my sailors; what their family life was like...where they came from...what interests they had beyond the ship-that was all part of the duty entrusted to me by virtue of my commission. I would expect the same thing would be true of an "urban" officer leading a unit of predominantly "rural" personnel. There's only three colors that matter-Red, White and Blue.

My daughter recently finished her campus visits. Of her "top-2" schools was a small college in the mid-West. They did not have an on-campus AROTC program: They were a "satellite" campus. While visiting with the ROTC cadet representative, it was discovered that the cadets were required to take a two-hour van ride to get to the host University. With the return trip, that's four hours of the week --which presented an unsavory scheduling issue. Subsequently, she has accepted admission to a major school in the northwest... one with an on-campus program.

It's an interesting article, and it presents an interesting "issue" bordering on "concern" level.

Let's call it "disproportionate representation" for the moment.

If the overall population is made up of X & Y at 50%/50%, then in theory we should have "about" 50% Y, and 50% X, at least in theory.

The article does NOT mention males or females, so I WILL use them as an example, because it "simplifies" things. The military has "about" an 85%/15% split even though the overall population is 50%/50%. That's an example of "disproportionate representation."

The question we have to ask is "Why is this happening?" and "What are the underlying causes?" followed by "What can we do to fix this (if this a problem)?"

The article answers the first two questions in relation two Urban environments, and "part" of the third (Racial Diversity). It's thought provoking, but it falls under the "Don't give me problems, give me solutions" concepts if I am reading it correctly.

Suggestions "I" would add:

1) Expand the direct commissioning program (Especially in the Law & Medical communities in Urban Centers). Expand them everywhere though with the goal of getting "more" diversity (Specifically GEOGRAPHIC diversity, or COLLEGIATE diversity).
2) Offer more Enlisted Commissioning Programs, especially at the SNCO ranks. I remember from reading for my BS that Enlisted actually have a "disproportionate representation" of minorities at Senior Enlisted in comparison to the general population (it's about double iirc).

I'm sure there are others.