Black and African Americans in The Military: From Service to Civilian Life

Cover of Black & African Americans in the military The following infographic provides key highlights of Black and African American service members and veterans. The information and statistics in this document are from our various data collection efforts centered on military life, transition, employment, entrepreneurship, and higher education.

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A Few Key Takeaways

Populations

There are over over 2.3 MILLION Black & African American Veterans in U.S.
0
There are over 350,000 Black & African American Active Duty and Selected Reserve members
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Views on Military Service

TOP SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES STRENGTHENED BY MILITARY SERVICES

Teamwork - 91%
Teamwork 93%
Work ethic/discipline - 89%
Work ethic/discipline 89%
Leadership and management skills - 83%
Leadership and management skills 83%
Mental toughness - 81%
Mental toughness 81%
Professionalism - 80%
Professionalism 80%
Adaptation to different challenges - 80%
Adaptation to different challenges 80%
Self-Discipline- 80%
Self-Discipline 80%
Ability to get things done - 79%
Ability to get things done 79%
Coping with adversity - 78%
Coping with adversity 78%
Working effectively with supervisors and other authorities- 76%
Working effectively with supervisors and other authorities 76%

Transition Difficulty

55% of Black and African American veterans characterized their financial transition from military to civilian life as difficult or very difficult.
59% of Black and African American veterans characterizes their employment transition as difficult or very difficult.

Higher Education

79% of Black and African American post 9/11 veterans have some college degree or higher.

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

0%

Some College of Associate Degree

0%

High School Degree

0%

Less Than High School Degree

0%

Employment

TOP FIVE OCCUPATIONS
  1. Service Occupations (security guards, police officers, correctional officers and jailers, firefighters)
  2. Transportation and Material Moving Occupation
  3. Management, Business, and Financial Occupation
  4. Office and Administrative Support Occupation
  5. Education, Legal, Community Service, Arts, and Media Occupation