80% of minorities ineligible to join military

The Washington Examiner reports:

The Pentagon is struggling to meet President Obama’s demands for more diversity in officer-ranks because a stunning 80 percent of minority teens who might consider military service are ineligible because of bad grades, criminal records, obesity and drug use, the head of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission revealed Tuesday.

White kids aren’t much better, with 70 percent unable to meet military standards, said retired Gen. Lester Lyles, head of the commission. “It’s the elephant in the room,” he told a Capitol Hill confab called that featured minority House members barking over the administration’s failure to make changes recommended by the commission to boost the number of minority officers, including generals and admirals.