Tom Vanden Brook

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Many of the Pentagon's elite commando units — including the Navy SEALs — are overwhelmingly led and manned by white officers and enlisted troops, a concern at the highest levels of the military where officials have stressed the need to create more diverse forces to handle future threats.

Black officers and enlisted troops are scarce in some special operations units in highest demand, according to data provided by the Pentagon to USA TODAY. For instance, eight of 753 SEAL officers are black, or 1%.

An expert at the Pentagon on the diversity of commando forces said the lack of minorities robs the military of skills it needs to win.

"We don't know where we will find ourselves in the future," said Army Col. Michael Copenhaver, who has published a paper on diversity in special operating forces. "One thing is for sure: We will find ourselves around the globe. And around the globe you have different cultural backgrounds everywhere. Having that kind of a diverse force can only increase your operational capability."

Special operations forces, including SEALs and the Army's Green Berets, are often the face of the American military in foreign hot spots where they rescue hostages, raid terrorist camps and train local troops. SEAL Team 6 famously raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and killed him. As the military sheds conventional forces — the Army will pare 40,000 soldiers in the next few years — special operators' ranks continue to be filled as demand for their unique capabilities remains high.

The diversity of special operating forces is closely held information. U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees all the services' commandos, declined to provide data on the racial makeup of its forces. USA TODAY had to obtain that data from each service individually, a process that took months. The Marines did not produce the actual numbers of their special operations forces, only percentages.

SOCOM, based in Tampa, does not track that information on its nearly 70,000 civilian and military personnel, said Kenneth McGraw, a spokesman. Gen. Joseph Votel, SOCOM's commander, declined to speak to USA TODAY for this story, said Col. Thomas Davis, another SOCOM spokesman.

Votel did address the issue last month at the Aspen Security Conference and stressed the need for diverse commando units, which operate in almost 90 countries. The average enlisted special operator is 29, married with two children and has deployed four to 10 times, Votel told the audience.

What he didn't say is that most of them are white.

"SOCOM needs diversity, we need people of color, we need men, we need women to help us solve the problems that we deal with today," Votel said. "So we need good people; men, women, people of all colors."

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter speaks regularly about the military's need for greater minority participation and said last month that diversifying the armed forces is a "continuing concern."

"I would like to see a lot more, but it's something that I monitor very closely and that I feel very strongly about because the force of the future has to be reflective of the country of the future," Carter said.

Carter has asked the services to explain the disparities and find ways to address them, according to a senior Defense official with knowledge of the issue who was not authorized to speak publicly and insisted on anonymity. The lack of diversity in special operations forces stems largely from the choices young recruits make when they join, not overt bias, the official said.

Copenhaver's paper, written for the U.S. Army's War College, makes a practical argument for greater diversity among special operations forces: "U.S. special operators have long acknowledged they face challenges mixing in with foreign populations because they look so American."

THE STATE OF DIVERSITY

In general, the military has a much more diverse force than key components such as special operations. African Americans made up 17% of the 1.3 million-member armed forces in 2013, according to a recent Pentagon report. Whites made up slightly more than 69%.

Diversity erodes with the breakdown from enlisted to officer ranks. Blacks make up 18.5% of the enlisted troops but only 9.4% of the officer corps. The lack of diversity becomes more evident the further up the ranks you climb. USA TODAY has reported that key commands in the Army and Air Force, the traditional stepping stones for senior leadership posts, are largely staffed by white officers.

Among special operators, the divide is especially stark. Each of the services provided data to USA TODAY.

For the SEALs, the problem extends beyond the officer corps into the enlisted ranks. Of its enlisted men, 45 SEALs are black, or about 2% of the 2,242 members of its elite force. There are more SEALs — 99, or 4% of the enlisted force — who are Native Americans or Alaska natives.

Among Army Green Berets, 85% of its 1,494 officers are white and 4.5% are black. Its 5,947 enlisted Green Berets are 86% white and 5.4% black.

For the Air Force's para-rescue jumpers, highly trained airmen who search for missing troops, only one of 166 is black, or .6% of that force.

Other commando fields, including the Army's civil affairs and psychological operations fields, the Navy's small boat crews and Air Force loadmasters, have greater percentages of minority participation but are still below their representation in the military as a whole.

The Marines refused to provide how many special operators they have. Instead, they provided a pie chart showing their racial breakdown. Black officers and enlisted Marines make up about 1% of their special operations forces.

CAUSES FOR LACK OF DIVERSITY

Some of the same forces that steer young African Americans from Army's combat specialties such as infantry and artillery — the breeding ground for the service's top leadership — appear to be in play among special operators, the senior Defense official said.

To address the problem, the Army urges young black officers to consider combat specialties, the official said. Promotion boards for officers give greater weight to diversity, and mentoring of minority officers is emphasized.

The lack of minorities in special operations fields can perpetuate itself, Copenhaver said. Many troops follow the lead of their parents into the services, what he calls "family lineage." If there are few role models among commandos, fewer minority troops are apt to be drawn to the fields, he said.

To reverse the trend, the SEALs have had extensive outreach efforts into minority communities, Copenhaver said. At least for now, the data provided by the Navy show limited results of that effort.

Copenhaver said the military should focus its recruiting efforts on the capabilities it needs among special operators. Diversity will follow. For instance, recruiting experts in languages and cultures of the Middle East, Asia and Africa would alter the makeup of special operators.

"Let's bring in a capability," Copenhaver said. "Along with that, inherently you gain the diversity."

The services will more actively recruit minority candidates for special operations forces, the senior official said. Pentagon leaders say greater diversity will improve core missions for commandos, including training of indigenous forces and civil affairs. Recruiters will be on the lookout for "extraordinarily adaptable" candidates.

"Diversity makes us a better fighting force," the official said. "It's not simply a question of equity."