Wha sup? Not Enlistment

Number of black Army recruits declining. The Army's wartime recruiting challenge is aggravated by a sharp drop in black enlistments in the last four years, which internal Army and Defense Department polls trace to an unpopular war in Iraq and concerns among blacks with Bush administration policies.

The Army strains to meet recruiting goals in part because black volunteers have fallen 41 percent ---- from 23.5 percent of recruits in fiscal 2000 down steadily to 13.9 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2005.

"It's alarming,'' said Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky. and one of the Army's most senior black officers, No single factor explains the drop, Rochelle added, but clearly the propensity of black youth to enlist is impacted by the war and increasingly by views of parents, teachers, coaches, clergy and other "influencers."

Rep. Charles B. Rangel, a Democrat whose New York City district includes Harlem, said he isn't too surprised by the Army recruiting data. "I have not found a black person in support of this war in my district,'' he said. "The fact that every member of the Congressional Black Caucus ---- emotionally, politically and vigorously ---- opposes this war is an indication of what black folks think throughout this country."