Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Asian Americans drive Army recruiting boom in L.A. -- latimes.com


Asian Americans drive Army recruiting boom in L.A. -- latimes.com:

"Asians have traditionally joined the military at the lowest rate among all races, but -- lured by job security, college aid and, for some, citizenship -- they are signing up in larger numbers. Their enlistments rose 80% in L.A. County."

On a chilly Saturday morning this month, the future soldiers of the U.S. Army huffed and puffed through push-ups, sit-ups and stretches in Whittier Narrows Regional Park in South El Monte.

There was the gangly white kid with the blond buzz cut and the buffed-out Latino dude, head draped in a black bandanna.

And then there was Jennifer Ren, small, slight and bespectacled, an immigrant from China who gamely kept up with the guys and sees the Army as a ticket to U.S. citizenship and a job in accounting and finance.

Down the training line was Christopher Ly, the son of Chinese immigrants from Vietnam who figures that the Army will help pay for a hoped-for Stanford University education and an eventual career as an Army lawyer.

Gery Denniswara, a Diamond Bar high school senior and Jakarta native, sees the Army as a way to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a doctor.

Ren, Ly and Denniswara helped drive the biggest Army recruitment boon for Los Angeles in two decades -- led by an 80% increase in Asian enlistments in the last year. Asians have traditionally joined the military at the lowest rate among all races.