ABSTRACT
The racial-ethnic composition of the United States military has changed over time as demand for personnel has waxed and waned during periods of war and peace, recruitment and enlistment policies have changed, and the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population have shifted. This chapter provides a historical overview of military service among White ethnics, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. I pay particular attention to how the roles members of each group have been allowed to play have changed over time, the unique contributions of each group to specific wars, and the relationship between military service and calls for improved civil rights. This is followed by a description of the relative rates of military service across various racial-ethnic groups, as well as consideration of issues related to race, ethnicity, and immigrant status in the contemporary military. This chapter sets the stage for considering how race, ethnicity, and immigrant status might intersect with military service within particular birth cohorts to shape the various life-course outcomes considered in subsequent chapters.
