wow-inequalities/02-data/intermediate/wos_sample/9129ad0858b04646f0572e78febebdc8-gifford-b/info.yaml

abstract: 'Since the end of the draft in 1973, African Americans have been

  overrepresented among volunteers for the US Armed Forces.(1) While many

  commentators have hailed the military as a uniquely egalitarian avenue

  for social and economic advancement in a society beset with racial

  inequities, the high participation rate among blacks has periodically

  led to concerns that they (and more recently, other ethnic minorities

  such as Hispanics) would disproportionately suffer from casualties in

  the event of military hostilities.(2) However, after numerous US

  military engagements since the 1970s, these fears have not been borne

  out. In fact, African Americans seem less likely to die in combat than

  their overall representation in uniform would suggest. Taken at face

  value, the racial composition of US combat casualties stands in stark

  contrast to the racial pattern of morbidity and mortality in the larger

  society, where African Americans as a group fare worse than whites on

  measures such as death rates, infant mortality, and life expectancy.(3)

  It would seem that, as a comparatively disadvantaged group, African

  Americans in the all-volunteer era have reaped the benefits of military

  service without unduly bearing its ultimate burdens. However,

  explanations for the unexpectedly low African American casualty rate

  have not been rigorously examined. Furthermore, assessing the racial

  equity of military service based on historical casualty patterns assumes

  that future combat operations will closely resemble those that have

  occurred since Vietnam-an assumption that in this new century looks

  increasingly untenable.

  Extending the work of Martin Binkin and his collaborators,(4) this study

  argues that the racial composition of combat casualties reflects three

  factors: the social processes that sort volunteers into various military

  units and occupational specialties; the mix of units and specialties

  that participate in military operations; and the battlefield conditions

  they encounter. Or put another way, given a particular environment

  within which armed conflict occurs, the probability of any person

  becoming a casualty is a function of their representation in those units

  most likely to make hostile contact with enemy forces. Following this,

  the underrepresentation of African Americans in the units most involved

  in combat operations since Vietnam may partly explain the disjuncture

  between their military participation and casualty rates. By extension,

  the higher propensity of whites to serve in combat capacities could

  explain their higher-than-expected, post-Vietnam casualty rate. The same

  may be true of ethnic Hispanics, who are also overrepresented in the

  combat arms, though their reasons for volunteering for such assignments

  may differ from those of their non-Hispanic white counterparts.

  The short duration of post-Vietnam US ground combat engagements such as

  Panama and Somalia-as well as the prominent roles played by special

  operations and light-infantry units for which blacks are less likely to

  volunteer(5)-has thus far prevented a rigorous evaluation of such

  propositions. However, the 2003-2004 conflict in Iraq presents one

  opportunity to assess the race distribution of US casualties under

  varying combat conditions. First, compared to other combat engagements

  since Vietnam, many diverse military units have been operating in Iraq

  for a relatively long time. Second, the US military experience in Iraq

  has been, broadly speaking, marked by differing conflict environments.

  In the relatively brief opening period, coalition ground combat forces

  (mainly US and British infantry and armor) rapidly penetrated deep into

  enemy territory and carried out offensive actions primarily against

  Iraqi military forces. The subsequent-and ongoing-mission involves

  efforts by combat and noncombat personnel (e.g., intelligence, police,

  logistical, and civil affairs) to consolidate US control, restore civil

  order, pacify hostile forces, and administer occupied areas.

  This study assesses the racial equity of military service by examining

  the racial distribution of US casualties in Iraq for the first twelve

  months national dialogue on the equity of military service may shift

  back to the social process that impels whites-particularly those from

  the lower socioeconomic strata-into the ranks. However, should US troops

  resume large-scale offensive campaigns against a number of seerningly

  growing and increasingly well-organized insurgent threats, casualties

  among blacks and Hispanics may creep up to a point where the fairness of

  military sacrifice again becomes an uncomfortable racial issue.

  On a final note, the findings of this study are not germane only to the

  military experiences of the United States. As of 2000, several advanced

  industrial democracies with long histories of conscription had abandoned

  the practice in favor of voluntary service, or had plans to phase it out

  by 2004. (36) Some nations with rising immigration rates have

  experienced increased racial and ethnic diversity in their volunteer

  militaries,(37) while others (such as Spain and France) actively recruit

  foreign volunteers. At the same time, conflicts such as Kosovo in 1999

  and contemporary operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have subjected the

  militaries of many nations to their first hostile fire in decades (for

  example, coalition casualties in Iraq include personnel from Italy,

  Spain, Poland, Denmark, and Bulgaria). To the degree that ethnic

  enlistment patterns are similarly structured by socioeconomic factors,

  debates about military equity and recruitment policies in the US case

  may presage similar dialogues elsewhere.'
affiliation: 'Gifford, B (Corresponding Author), Univ Calif Berkeley, Robert Wood
  Johnson Fdn, 140 Warren Hall,MC 7360, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.

  Univ Calif Berkeley, Robert Wood Johnson Fdn, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.'
author: Gifford, B
author-email: gifford@berkeley.edu
author_list:
- family: Gifford
  given: B
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/0095327X0503100203
files: []
issn: 0095-327X
journal: ARMED FORCES \& SOCIETY
keywords-plus: 'BRITISH-ARMED-SERVICES; UNITED-STATES MILITARY; PARTICIPATION;

  ENLISTMENTS; UNIFORM; FORCES'
language: English
month: WIN
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '41'
pages: 201+
papis_id: 6b508f65bc6511dbdd06b90f753240bc
ref: Gifford2005combatcasualties
researcherid-numbers: Baltutyte, Gerda/AGH-5630-2022
times-cited: '35'
title: 'Combat casualties and race: What can we learn from the 2003-2004 Iraq conflict?'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000227100600002
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '14'
volume: '31'
web-of-science-categories: Political Science; Sociology
year: '2005'