Non-Citizen Trainees Have Lower Attrition Rate

by: Richard Allen Smith

Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 15:39:25 PM EST

Within three months of entering active service, 8.2 percent of citizen enlistees have been discharged.  That is more than double the 4 percent attrition rate of non-citizens who volunteer to serve in America's military.

At the three-year mark, 28 percent of citizens have left before completing initial service obligations while the washout rate for non-citizens remains significantly lower, at 16 percent. And the disparity widens by the four-year mark, with 32 percent of citizen recruits having been discharged versus only 18 percent of non-citizen accessions.

It isn't surprising that people who have come to America for a better life have a greater desire for military success than a large portion of citizen recruits who can look back to the days of sitting at home on the Xbox.  Similarly, this study is yet another indicator that we have an urgent need to pass the DREAM Act, a proposal that would allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to America as children, having no choice in the matter, to become citizens through military service. The legislation, held up in Congress by anti-immigration zealots, would allow a population to serve that now has empirical evidence showing they have a greater propensity for success than their citizen counterparts.

There is no good reason to not pass the legislation. You can't help but wonder why a portion of our elected leaders are against letting qualified individuals serve their country. Oddly enough, those opposed are the same leaders that fought the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Anyone else notice a pattern?