from 14 percent in 1971 to close to 37 percent of new recruits and nearly one-third of all enlisted personnel by 1979. As of 1996 (Table 6.1), the proportion of enlistees who are black had declined by 30 percent, but the relatively high representation of this racial/ethnic minority group remains as one of the most distinguishing demographic characteristics of the all-volunteer Army (Binkin and Eitelberg, 1982).

Second, in 1973, women comprised about 2 percent of enlisted personnel and 4 percent of officers in the Army. By the late 1980s, this proportion had risen to 11 percent in both the active-duty enlisted and officer ranks; and by 1996, it stood at 14 percent of the Army's enlisted force and 14 percent of the officer corps (U.S. Department of Defense, 1997). Third, in 1973, white men of European descent accounted for about 75 percent of Army active-duty enlisted personnel and 9 in 10 officers; by the mid-1990s, these proportions had declined to 44 percent of the enlisted force and 66 percent of officers (Defense Manpower Data Center, 1998; U.S. Department of Defense, 1997).