The U.S. Army this year had its biggest recruitment boom in Los Angeles in two decades, led by an 80 percent increase in enlistment by Asian Americans, it was reported on Wednesday.
Asians traditionally have joined the military at lower rates than other races, the Los Angeles Times said.
Asians this year made up 22 percent of all active-duty recruits, nearly twice their proportion in the Los Angeles County population, the paper said.
Latino enlistment increased by 37 percent, while African Americans rose by about 14 percent and whites by 15 percent.
Overall, the Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion signed up 2,300 new recruits, a 34 percent increase over last fiscal year, according to the paper.
The Southern California Recruiting Battalion, which handles Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, also reported the biggest
recruiting year in two decades -- including a 33 percent increase in Asian recruits, the paper reported.
For Asian Americans, the greatest appeal appears to be the opportunities for higher education offered by the military.
Lt. Col. Somport Jongwatana, Los Angeles battalion commander, told the paper that another major lure was a new program this year that offers citizenship to select candidates with healthcare specialties and language expertise.
The program was particularly popular among Los Angeles Koreans, with 266 applicants vying for 48 slots and helping close that language category faster than any other except Hindi, Army officials were quoted as saying.