Adding country-of-origin identification to accession data. Current accession information identifies race, ethnicity (Hispanic/non-Hispanic), and country of origin for non-citizens. Because immigration will fuel growth in the youth population over the next few decades, we can expect proportionally more recruits to be first-or second-generation immigrants-many of whom might strongly identify with their country of origin. As such, we believe DoD should collect "country of origin" information for at least l stand 2 nd-generation citizens. • Ensuring Green Card Servicemembers have information about legal permanent residency and expedited citizenship. In our field work, we spoke to several non-citizen recruits who were unaware of the expedited citizenship executive order currently in effect. Noncitizens are restricted to certain Military Occupational Specialties (MOSs), so such information might make a difference in a recruit's ultimate satisfaction in the military. Providing information on obtaining permanent residency to those who are in the United States legally on student or work visas also might be useful. 1. We use the term "Hispanic" throughout this paper to refer to those of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino descent. Although some favor one term over another, the usage of the term "Hispanic" seems to be more popular. The U.S. Bureau of the Census defines ethnicity or origin (Hispanic/non-Hispanic) as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic may be of any race. In fact, more than 90 percent of those who said they were of "some other race" in the 2000 Census also identified themselves as Hispanic. 2. Because ethnicity is based on self-identification, interethnic marriages can also fuel growth. For example, almost one-third of U.S.-born Hispanics age 25 to 34 are married to non-Hispanic whites. See Fletcher (1998).

Since the inception of the all‐volunteer force (AVF) in 1973, the U.S. military has been considered a pioneer of equal opportunity among the nation's institutions, despite its being a unique internal labor market characterized by a hierarchical structure with little lateral entry. The authors argue that this actually helped women and minorities because (1) the advancement process is both well defined and based on merit, and (2) the promotion process looks at everyone. The pay raises that accompanied the AVF made military service competitive with civilian labor market alternatives and provided women and minorities with a viable career choice. They took advantage of this freedom of choice resulting in their ever‐increasing representation at all levels of the armed forces.

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After briefly reviewing trends in Marine Corps first-term atrition, the paper analyzes recruit background characteristics and Marine Corps environment variables associated wither successful adaptation to Marine Corps life. Three measures of success are examined: completion of the first term of servicc completion of the first term of service at the rank of corporal, and retention beyond the initial service obligation.

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