Who's in the army now?

The St. Petersburg Times is one paper that still believes in doing serious news analysis and even investigative reporting.  This article is a reminder of that:

America's new warrior class? Race doesn't appear to be a significant factor these days in who fights the nation's wars by Paul De La Garza and Cathy Wos 09/23/05

Disroportionate numbers of blacks service in the armed forces compared to their portion of the total US population, the percentage of African-Americans serving in combat is lower than it was in the Vietnam War:

While African-Americans continue to serve in the military in disproportionate numbers today, other factors play a role in declining minority deaths. One factor is that the percentage of African-Americans serving in combat has declined appreciably.

Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University, said the number of African-Americans serving in the infantry, for instance, is about 11 percent, down from a high of about 25 percent. He said more African-Americans are selecting noncombat fields in the military, such as unit administration and communications.

Moskos thinks the real issue is class, which is much harder to quantify because the Pentagon does not keep income data on recruits.

He said media commentators and intellectuals promote the idea that minorities bear the brunt of wartime casualties because it generates controversy. "I guess the intellectuals and media are not turned on by poor, rural whites," Moskos wrote in an e-mail. "Shame on the intellectuals and media."

The article gives only vague data about the regional origins of soldiers.  It mentions that 64% are from the "South and West," but it doesn't define the regions.  My understanding is that the South is very heavily over-represented proportionately compared to all other regions of the country.