The 'new' Navy: trying to put the past behind

Ebony, Sept, 1989 by Hans J. Massaquoi

THE 'NEW' NAVY Trying To PutThe Past Behind

NOW hear thsi: There's new meaning to the old GI gripe, "The Navy gets the gravy while the Army gets the beans," and it has nothing to do with Navy chow. Navy recruiters want it known that when it comes to educational and career opportunities, there's plenty of Navy "gravy" to go around. This time, they say, it's not only available to Whites, as not so long ago, but also to Blacks who want to come aboard and make the Navy their home.

With a meager three percent sprinkling of Black officers (including three admirals out of 326), the Navy has a lot of catching up to do in order to practice what it preaches. Realizing this, the Navy's brass, from the chief of Naval Operations on down, has taken a tough, no-bull stance in enforcing EO (equal opportunity). Vice Adm. J. Michael Boorda, chief of Naval Personnel and one of the chief enforcers, concedes that making EO in the Navy a reality is an ongoing battle but one, he is confident, the Navy is going to win. "We have to keep reminding people that we don't tolerate any kind of discrimination in the Navy -- and in fact we don't," he says. "And when it comes up, we have to deal with it swiftly and in a way that anybody knows we are serious."

With that kind of backing from the top, Navy recruiters have launched an all-out effort to attract the brightest young Blacks--both men and women--they can find to fill the yawning minority gaps in the Navy's officers' ranks. Among the most active in this effort is Capt. Eugene Bailey, deputy commander for Naval Recruiting. A Black, 25-year Navy veteran, Capt. Bailey is a walking/talking Navy recruitement poster who recruits with the ferfor of an evangelist seeking converts for a better hereafter. "I will not make excuses for the Navy's [equal opportunity] recordin the past," he says, "but I can tell you there has been a significant change. I think Blacks should check out the Navy today, and not say, 'Because my father or my grandfather couldn't get into the Navy, or because they could only be stewards or shoeshiners, I don't want any part of it.' opportunities are there. if we [Blacks] don't take advantage of these opportunities, we are missing out on scholarships, training and other opportunities to excel."

While making it clear that he does not want to compete with the other military service branches, Capt. Bailey doesn't mind pointing out that there are several areas where he feels the Navy has the edge. One, he says, is in educational opportunities. High on the list of the Navy's arsenal of educational goodies he lists its Baccelaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP) whereby the Navy will pay students a monthly salary of up to $1,200 for two years to help them complete their college degree while working toward an officer's commission in the Naval Reserve. During the program, students are required to do nothing but keep their grades up and complete their degree. Another program, aimed at helping the high school graduate whose grades aren't quite up to par for college admission, is Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection in Training (BOOST). BOOST enrollees attend a prep-type school at Navy expense until their grades have reached a point where they can successfully compete in college entrance exams. In addition, the Navy awards -- on a competitive basis -- lucrative college scholarships (up to $60,000 per student) to qualified young men and women who commit themselves to serve from four to six years, depending on their service specialty, as naval officers.

Capt. Bailey hastens to point out that while the Navy is looking for bright young men and women, "they don't have to be Einsteins." Far more important than exceptionally high IQs, he says, are a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard. "The Navy is not going to give you something for nothing," he cautions. "You have to produce."

To those who have what it takes and who have earned their officer's commission, the Navy offers a wide variety of leadership careers at sea, in the air and on shore. Fitting a vast range of talent and preparation, such careers range from piloting the Navy's most advanced jets, to commanding nuclear-powered submarines, to looking after the spritual wellbeing of sailors as members of the Navy Chaplain Corps.

Navy recruiters concede that finding enough suitable -- that is, willing and able -- young Blacks to meet their annual Black recruitment goal of 7 percent for the service's officer program has become a task whose difficulty approaches that of pulling hens' teeth. One reason, they explain, is an image problem in the Black community. Black people's perception of the Navy as the U.S. armed forces' most bigoted branch, a reputation well earned during many decades of brutal discrimination and downgrading of Blacks, dies hard. Another reason recruiters cite is the fact that today's young Blacks have a considerably wider range of career options than those of a decade ago. Still, the most serious obstacle to Black recruitment, recruiters point out, is the rapidly shrinking pool of Black male college students or graduates from which to recruit. This problem is further aggravated by the fact that an ensign's base pay of $20,727.72 (including allowances) is not much of a lure in today's economy. Closely related to the shrinking of the male college graduate pool is the relatively small number of Blacks majoring in science subjects such as physics and trigonometry. In a largely technical Navy that operates multi-billion dollars worth of sophisticated equipment, recruiters explain, a background in science is an absolute must for the bulk of leadership positions they need to fill.