An about-face: young blacks and Latinos who enlist in the military for skills and training are still getting turned away by employers.

In high school, all Dion Greer could think about was basketball. Standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, the St. Martin de Porres High School grad won a basketball scholarship to Nappa Valley Community College in California. But his full ride didn't pan out. After a year, Greer lost his scholarship. Unable to pay for college, he packed his bags and returned to Chicago.

Greer said jobs and opportunities were scarce in the predominantly black Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, where he grew up. At 19, out of work with little to do and too much time on his hands, Greer felt himself slipping into the wrong scene. Viewing the military as his only option, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. "The military was a way out for me," Greer said. "I needed to get off the street."

But military service has not paid off for Greer and many other young African Americans from Chicago who served their country but struggle to find work. While national figures show that black veterans fare better in the job market than African Americans with no military experience, some young black veterans in Chicago are just as likely to be unemployed as young blacks who have not served, a Chicago Reporter analysis of census data shows. Moreover, Illinois is one of only three states where veterans are more likely to be unemployed than other civilians. Chicago is home to a third of the 900,000 veterans in Illinois.

Seven years after signing up to serve his country, Greer, now 26, is looking for work and trying to get veterans' benefits. Greet said his military training has not helped him much in his job search as a civilian.

"The military is the best thing for minorities without any opportunities. But now I'm in the same spot as I was when I went in--and that is unemployed--because I have no work experience," Greer said as he waited in line to speak with a caseworker at the Illinois Department of Employment Security office at 5101 S. Cicero Ave. The employment agency works with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to help out-of-work veterans get back on their feet. Caseloads have increased since service men and women started to return from Iraq. Since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 127,970 service members have left the armed forces, according to Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Greer is among a growing number of young blacks and Latinos who turn to the military as an alternative to staying home in communities where they see few opportunities, said Sgt. Robert Harris, a recruiter for the U.S. Marines Corps who works at 712 E. 87th St. "A lot of the young people I talk to want to enlist in the military instead of just sitting around and doing nothing," Harris said.

African American and Latino representation in the military has nearly doubled since the Vietnam War, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report and data from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Overall, blacks and Latinos account for 28 percent of all active soldiers and those service members working in an administrative capacity.

People can earn money for college by joining the military. But recruiters also encourage potential enlistees to join by detailing the range of trade and technical training opportunities in the military--practical skills service men and women can fall back on as they return to the civilian workforce, Harris said.

Unemployment figures back up that claim, especially for African Americans. Unemployment rates released in March by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that, in most states, people with no military experience are more likely to be without jobs than veterans.

Nationwide, the unemployment rate for black veterans stands at 7 percent, compared with 10 percent for black nonveterans.

But, in Illinois, 7 percent of veterans are unemployed compared with 6 percent of all other civilians. In Chicago, the unemployment rate is 7.4 percent, according to the state's latest figures. But 13 percent of black veterans and 19 percent of black nonveterans weren't getting a paycheck in 2000, according to estimates the Reporter compiled from 2000 census data, the latest unemployment figures available for the city by race and veteran status. And, for blacks between the ages of 25 and 29, like Greer, veterans were slightly more likely to be without work than nonveterans in the same age group.

Veterans' advocates in Washington, D.C., are putting pressure on the private businesses to recognize former service members as a reliable pool of skilled workers.

"Surely any service member with the skills to keep the jets flying, battleships cruising and weapons systems on target would be valuable to any company seeking the best and the brightest as part of their workforce," said U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Veterans Affairs, in a statement prepared for a March hearing on the issue.

Evans, a Marine who's served in Okinawa, said he hopes to assess the private sector's perceptions of the military as a workforce training ground. Evans identified young minorities as being at the greatest risk for unemployment when they are discharged.

"The data points are clear: We aren't doing enough to effectively assist our military personnel transition from active duty to civilian employment, especially for our younger service members and minority veterans," said Evans, who represents the 17th Congressional District in west central Illinois.

While 9 percent of white veterans nationwide between the ages of 20 and 24 are unemployed, nearly 20 percent of black veterans in this age group are unemployed. Also, 20- to 24-year-old black veterans are only one tenth of one percent more likely to find work than black nonveterans in this age group.

Veterans' advocates say that employers should feel confident when hiring veterans because service members have to meet mental, physical and ethical standards before they are accepted into the Armed Forces.

"Veterans are the best candidates for employers because they are dependable, reliable, and they have job training and life skills that make them productive workers," said Sam Miller, Greer's veteran representative with the Illinois Department of Employment Security. "Veterans deserve to be given the first priority for putting their lives on the line for us."

Miller, like most veteran representatives, served in the military. He helps veterans find work and become reacclimated with civilian life.

"As a veteran I understand how difficult the transition back to civilian life can be," said Miller, a Vietnam-era veteran and the recipient of two Purple Hearts. He was disabled by a land mine in Da Nang when it exploded beneath his vehicle in October 1968, leaving him with only partial use of his right leg.

When Miller returned, he spent nine months in the hospital and another six months in rehabilitation. "I have been working for the VA ever since I got out of the hospital," Miller said.

Like Greet, Miller is an African American who saw the military as an alternative to heading down a dead-end path at home.

"I looked at the military as a better option than staying home and possibly getting involved in neighborhood gang activity," said Miller, who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp in 1967, the same year he graduated from high school.

The VA works with the Illinois Department of Employment Security to provide veterans help with job training and counseling. In addition, the VA provides medical care, financial aid for education, disability compensation, housing loans and pensions.

Miller and other veteran representatives network with Chicago-area employers in the private sector, establishing relationships with veteran-friendly companies. Miller directed Greer to apply at one such firm, Ready Metals, located at 4500 W. 47th St.

Miller says he's sure the actual percentage of unemployed or struggling veterans is much higher since the unemployment rate doesn't include people who are no longer looking for a job or those who can only find part-time work.

"There are a lot of Chicago veterans who've given up looking for a job," Miller said. "They become complacent primarily because they believe the system has failed them."