WASHINGTON — The vast majority of troops in the American military are men, and they are white.
Here's the breakdown from the non-partisan think tank Pew Research Center:
Out of a total force of 1.3 million personnel, 83.5% are men and 16.5% are women; 57% are white, 16% are black, 16% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian and 6% are listed as "other."
"Women and persons of color have always served in our military, even though for the majority of our history, military policies and culture have been hostile to their presence," said Republican Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California). "They deserve the opportunity to excel, unencumbered by biases and barriers and free from hate crimes and sexual assaults that threaten their safety."
Military leaders from each branch, who, it happened, were all white men, told the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee the military is trying but acknowledged they must work harder.
"We have made far too little progress far too slowly and we are committed to changing that," said Vice Admiral John Nowell, Chief of Naval Personnel.
"While we've made progress improving our diversity, with a four percent increase in female airmen and a five percent increase in racially and ethnically diverse airmen over the last 10 years, the demographics indicate we still have a long way to go," said Lieutenant General Brian Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Air Force.
Besides attracting women and people of color to join, the military must also retain them.
Pamela Campos-Palma, a former Air Force operations intelligence analyst, quit after multiple sexual assaults during her service.
"The feeling of being preyed upon and undermined from within made an already challenging role even harder," she said.
Despite it all, though, the Pew Research Center finds that today's military is "more racially and ethnically diverse than in previous generations."
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