RAND research conducted in the late 1990s documented differences in rates of promotion and retention among male, female, white, and minority officers in the U.S. military. This volume updates the earlier RAND study, using data from January 1988 through September 2010. It also examines the career progression of women serving in military occupations that are partially closed to them.

The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

Since the military draft ended in 1975, newly commissioned officers haveincluded increasing numbers of minorities and women. These officers must beretained and promoted for the senior officer ranks to become as diverse asthe junior officer ranks are today. This report examines whether minorityand women officers obtain these promotions and choose to continue in theircareers at the same rate as other officers. The authors conducted tworesearch efforts: analyzing personnel records and interviewing midcareerofficers, personnel managers, and promotion board members individually andin focus groups. Results for minorities other than blacks were limited dueto small sample sizes. White women were found to be less likely to reachhigher officer ranks than were men, mostly because they chose to leave themilitary between promotions. Black male and black female officers generallyfailed promotions in higher proportions than did white males, but were morelikely to stay in the military between promotions. The interviews and focusgroups revealed different perceptions about careers: Black officers seemedto have greater difficulty forming all-important peer and mentorrelationships and overcoming initial expectations of lower performance.Women's careers have been affected by limited occupational opportunities,inconsistent acceptance of their role as military officers, harassment, andfamily conflicts.

The US military is one of the largest employers in the country and is a relative microcosm of American society, bringing in people from diverse backgrounds and history to defend the nation from all enemies. Military and civilian leaders address the same challenges as those found in the civilian world, including diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging. The US military has both led and followed the nation in establishing policies of diversity and inclusion. In this second edition, the editors and contributors provide a revised, updated, and expanded overview of the ways in which diversity and inclusion are dispatched in the US military by providing information and knowledge about celebrated and contested social characteristics including race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexuality and three new groups comprising the military: the (dis)abled, civilians, and immigrants. Astute subject matter experts contribute contemporary, must have, go to chapters into a fresh, compelling, and insightful volume on the roles that each of these groups occupy in the US armed services as well as the laws, rules, and regulations regarding their participation. This new edition also provides eleven Lived Experiences that enliven and humanize each chapter and will assuredly inspire readers.

This volume examines the causes and consequences of stress in the military, focussing on how stress and well-being shape the experiences of military personnel both in and out of the combat zone.

African Americans have long used the military for gaining legitimacy and as the ultimate path to citizenship. Blacks in the Military and Beyond thoughtfully chronicles their tumultuous journey from slavery through the present, extending the ourstory to pre-service, in service and post-service economic considerations as significant factors in determining whether or not serving in the military has advantaged Blacks, and how such mechanisms like the periodic drawing down of forces have impacted Blacks overall. G.L.A. Harris and Evelyn L. Lewis delve into the role of the military as a conduit in helping to create and sustain the Black middle class, challenging the military to be more strategic as to the long term effects of its decisions to be ever mindful of upholding its moral compact with African Americans.

This research and policy book examines the role of women in the military and the overwhelming evidence to date that warranted repealing the combat exclusion policy. It explores the following questions: How can the success of women in the military serve as justification for its repeal? What will be the potential impact of repealing the policy on the recruitment, promotion and retention of women in the military? How will repealing the combat exclusion policy change the ways in which military men relate to military women? How can repealing the policy set women on the course toward full agency and representation as full citizens in American society at large? Not only will this book help in filling the gaps of the existing literature of public administration and public policy about women in the military but it will provide the personal insights of women who have served under the combat exclusion policy.

The US military has done an about-face on gender and sexuality policy over the last decade, ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, restrictions on women in combat, and transgender exclusion. Contrary to expectations, servicemembers have largely welcomed cisgender LGB individuals—yet they continue to vociferously resist trans inclusion and the presence of women on the front lines. In the minds of many, the embodied “deficiencies” of cisgender women and trans people of all genders puts others—and indeed, the nation—at risk. In this book, Cati Connell identifies the homonormative bargain that underwrites these uneven patterns of reception—a bargain that comes with significant concessions, upholding and even exacerbating race, class, and gender inequality in the pursuit of sexual equality. In this handshake deal, even the widespread support for open LGB service is highly conditional, revocable upon violation of the bargain. Despite the promise of inclusivity, in practice, the military has made room only for a “few good gays,” to the exclusion of all others. But should equal access be the goal? How did we get from there to here? And where do we go next? In analyzing inclusion as a social movement aspiration, Connell shows that its steep price is exacted through the continued abjection of queered Others, both at home and abroad.