[red-iron-pine]

getting into the infantry, at least in the US military, is non-trivial. entire generations have now grown up on Halo and Modern Warfare 2, and there are no shortages of wanna be trigger pullers. Meanwhile something like 1 in 11 troopers in the Army are combat arms -- you need a lot of logistics, mechanical, etc. bodies. Closer to 1 in 7 in the Marines, but still the majority aren't combat arms.

might be a different story in UKR, where they're grinding through troops and everyone is looking to be in the rear w/ the gear.

but that selection bias is definitely geared towards motivated combat troopers. meanwhile some kid from Missouri joins up thinking he's gonna get out of his shit town and learn computers or something but then spends 18 hours a day filtering water and fuel at a remote base in Germany for 4 years.

> Another one that I remember learning is that the suicide rate among white troops is much higher than the rate among black troops; I have no idea why.

depressed middle class white kid realizes he could have worked at Target while going to community college, and is now isolated doing a job he hates and can't quite for 3+ years. black kid is happy he doesn't have to go back to a worse situation.

also heard a statistic that hispanic recruits are more likely to make it though basic training and AIT / A-schools. hispanic paradox, military edition?