More Asian Americans Joining the Army

With the exception of Japanese Americans, the majority of every Asian American community is foreign born. The U.S. military has been hard pressed meeting its recruitment goals, but Asian Americans are volunteering at an increasing rate.

Lonny Shavelson reports for National Public Radio:

In the U.S. Army, Asian-Americans have typically volunteered at the lowest rate of any ethnic group. They make up 4 percent of the population, and only 1 percent of military recruits.

But that seems to be changing. Something is suddenly drawing Asian-Americans in California into the Army at a remarkable rate. And there have been similar increases in other Asian-American population centers, like Seattle and New York.

In Los Angeles County last year, 22 percent of Army recruits were Asian-Americans — almost twice their proportion in the population. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the sign-up rate is also spiking. The proportion of newly enlisted soldiers who are Asian-Americans this year is nearly double that of last year. Click here for the rest of the story.

bh