Some countries have specific treaties that allow certian numbers (quotas) of their folks to join the US forces. Germany may or may not be one, but the UK is, and also I think Canada. As pointed out above, the PI was as well but may no longer be.
(Slight hijack) Then there is the whole issue of exchange personnel. It is common for allied forces too have personnel serve with each other’s military to get to know how they operate. US personnel also serve with other nations as exchange personnel. In such cases, they are not “in” the other nations’ military, but rather only “with” it. They continue to wear their own countries’ uniforms and get paid by them.
On my ship (USS Monterey 1996-1998) we had on board three foreign citizens. One was a Scot, the rest Filipino.
We go places in these ships - they all served overseas.
None of them had a job that required a security clearance, and they had restrictions placed on their movement (escorts and such) when the ship was in Newport News Shipyard. The shipyard restrictions were a corporate rather than a naval policy.
Not only are foreign nationals permitted in our service, they often do exceedingly well in it.
Monty, while attached to SUBDEVGRU ONE, we had a Dutch national as an officer on board my boat. Yup, fully cleared with access levels I’m not even allowed to type. No, he wasn’t on ‘loan’ from his country’s service; He held a Commission in the US Navy, was a graduate of NNPS Orlando. When I checked in, he was the MPA; Very nuclear!
Aboard the Tender, we had a Scottish Quartermaster. It was a pure delight to hear him give the morning Time Check from the Pilot House. I can’t even begin to count the number of Philippeno nationals I served with. EM1 Navarro was not only a Mexican National, he lived south of Tijuana, crossing the border twice a day to get between the boat and home. Intaglio had a Canadian in her division.
As a Recruiter, I had a Jamaican Supply Petty Officer.
Foriegn nationals serve the US with distinction, all the time.
Monty: Nope. Checked it at the time, because he was such strange bird. Not particlarly popular (we used to call him "Og, the Sea Bass), he transferred about a year after I checked aboard. Not the norm at all, but real none-the-less. Hit my e-mail, and I’ll give you more detail.
The facts have been laid on the table, so I’ll just add an anecdote of my own:
As an exchange student in Chicago, in ‘85, I wanted some souvenirs that weren’t the usual crap you can get down by the Water Tower. There was an Army Recruiting office a couple o’ blocks from where i lived (IIRC on Irving Park). I went there to get some "I want YOU for U.S. Army posters and stuff. Not being an Army buff at all, it just seemed cool at the time.
I got to talking to the recruiting officer, sitting there, being bored. He - jokingly and hearing my accent - said: “Why don’t you sign up?” I pointed out, not only my lack of citizenship, but even a green card. He explained to me that the green card would be automatic - even for a Swede - if I signed up. How else would I get payed. Citizenship would follow. Claimed he: “If you’re willing to die for this country, I think you’re proving your worth as a citizen.”
No I didn’t sign up. But I got lots and lots of fun “Be all you can be” stuff.
It’s been a while since the military was allowed to sponsor folks (i.e., “automatic green card”). The requirement now, and for some time, is that the prospective enlistee be a lawful resident (US citizen or green card holder) of the US.
Wasn’t the a scandal during the Vietnam war about non US citizens being assigned to combat units at greater rates than US citizens? My old boss who was from England His family moved to the states and he was drafted during the Vietnam war before he became a citizen. He says he was in a combat unit and the scandal broke and he was transferred to a non combat unit.
So I don’t think that being a citizen was necessary for serving in the US military in the past.
While serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, I had two foreigners on my basic training, one an American (who became my best friend,) the other a West German (at the time there was a difference.)
It was harder for them to get security clearances, but not impossible. The American eventually became a dual citizen; he has a letter from the State Department saying he wouldn’t lose his U.S. citizenship.
It’s never been a requirement, gazpacho, to hold US citizenship to serve in the military. As I’ve mentioned a number of times on this site, Enlisted members may be of any citizenship.