The Best Soldiers

This should probably be filed under maybe.  From Strategy Page we have this assertion that non-citizens make better soldiers.  (I am using soldier in its more generic form, for uniformed personnel, but I suspect this article applies especially to the US Army.)

In the United States the non-citizens of prime military age (18-29) make up about 2.2 percent of the U.S. population, but 4 percent of military personnel.  There are about 1.2 million non-citizens who are physically, mentally, and psychologically fit to serve in the military.  These men and women are particularly attractive to the military because they tend to work harder, have fewer disciplinary problems, and often possess language skills and cultural knowledge that the military needs.  But a major reason non-citizens are overrepresented in the military is that it's an ancient tradition for a newcomer to gain membership in the tribe/kingdom/country via performing some dangerous service to gain acceptance.

In the last decade the U.S. military has enlisted some 70,000 non-citizens, about five percent of all recruits.  The foreign recruits are tossed out during their first three months of service at half the rate of their citizen counterparts.  After three years of service 72 percent of citizens were still in uniform, compared to 84 percent of non-citizen troops.  The foreign troops are more patriotic and work harder than their citizen counterparts.  Non-citizen troops have another incentive, as they can apply for citizenship sooner because of their military service.  Any foreign recruit forced out for medical reasons (because of combat or non-combat injuries) can still obtain citizenship more quickly.  Most foreign troops obtain citizenship as soon as they can while in the military because many jobs require a security clearance and only citizens can get one of those.

As the article says:

Not mercenaries but foreigners willing and able to serve next to the native born.  It still works.

As I recall, a lot of immigrants served in the Union Army during our Civil War.

Regards  —  Cliff