Promotions Among the Ranks

The purpose of the paper is to review the promotion trends of black officers in the Air Force. Recently the Air Force and other military services have been receiving extensive scrutiny and complaints about unfair promotion systems. A 1994 congressional investigation concluded that racial discrimination still existed in the military. Black military personnel complained that they received deficient evaluations and lacked prominent promotable positions. Many allegations by other groups revealed charges brought against supervisors and senior leaders, accusing them of cronysm, preferential treatment, as well as tampering and influencing boards. A review of the promotions trends for the past two decades indicated that black officers' promotion rates are disproportionate to white candidates and board averages.