The leaders of two private organizations that help develop African-American or Hispanic candidates as Navy offi cers say minorities of rank are needed as role models for enlisted personnel and to improve decision-making at the command level. Almost half of the Navy’s enlisted personnel are minority; about a fifth of its officers are.
“People from different backgrounds approach problems differently,” says Bernard Jackson, a retired Navy captain and president of the National Naval Officers Association, which mentors African-American offi cers. “There’s some synergy in having a diverse offi cer corps.”
Navy Commander Mery-Angela Katson, national president of the Association of Naval Services Offi cers, which mentors Hispanic offi cers, says: “We have enlisted minority members and they need role models... . It gives people something to aspire to.”
Katson says Naval Academy recruiters attracted more minority applicants by using a familiar strategy.
“They went into schools and showed the Navy,” she says.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
