Research Paper on:
Military Diversity

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
at its historic policies. From gender to race to sexual orientation, the military has grappled with significant changes that have both fortified and pulled apart members of its various  outfits. This coming of age, so to speak, has rendered a re-evaluation from the highest ranking position all the way down to those who hold the title of private,  inasmuch as the issues at hand were growing ferocious in nature and demanded to be addressed. Clearly, the closing of the twentieth century presented the military with a strong  lesson in accepting diversity. "Diversity is facing our reactions to differentness and the discomfort it sometimes causes. It involves taking a look at why different holidays, practices, values  or language make us feel threatened and build walls between us. It means looking at the world and our actions from someone elses perspective."1 II. OUT WITH THE OLD,  IN WITH THE NEW With women representing nearly two-thirds and nonwhites reflecting almost thirty percent of the 2000 workforce, the militarys recruiting has witnessed significant changes from it traditional white  male membership.2 Clearly, the growing diversity of contemporary society has waged its influence upon Americas military community by providing a wider membership base from which to recruit, even if  this push toward modernity sets uneasily with some whose entire lives have been dedicated to the stringent standards of conventional military. In essence, military personnel from the top to  the bottom have had to accept the growing trend toward diversity with an open attitude and a desire to blend with the myriad elements subject to such diversity. "Some  would say that this counters the effort to be color- and gender-blind. Thats not true at all. The notions of color-blind and gender-blind never did call for ignoring