ted assignments
to food service and other support occupations. Among men with twenty
or more years in uniform, 40 percent of the blacks and 12 percent (p. 525)
of the whites were assigned to service occupations. But this pattern
was changing, the analysts pointed out. The reduction in the
differential between whites and blacks in service occupations among
more recent recruits clearly reflected the impact of policies designed
to equalize opportunities (_Table 20_). These policies had brought (p. 526)
about an increasing proportion of Negroes in white collar skills as
well as in ground combat skills.

Table 18--Distribution of Enlisted Personnel in Each Major
Occupation, 1956

Percentage Distribution by AFQT Groups
Occupation I&II III IV

Electronics 60.3 31.4 8.3
Other technical 57.9 30.7 11.4
Admin. & clerical 51.5 37.4 11.1
Mechanics & repairmen 37.6 43.8 18.6
Crafts 30.0 44.1 25.9
Services 21.5 43.3 35.2
Ground combat 24.5 37.1 38.4

Table 19--Occupational Group Distribution by Race. All DOD, 1962

Total Percent
Occupational Group Percentage Distribution of Negroes in
Negroes White Each Group
Ground combat 23.7 15.0 14.3
Electronics 7.0 14.9 4.7
Other technical 6.8 7.7 8.5
Admin. & clerical 21.5 19.2 10.6
Mechanics & repairmen 15.1 26.0 5.8
Crafts 5.6 6.6 8.4
Services 20.3 10.7 16.6
Total 100.0 100.0 9.2

Table 20--Occupational Group Distribution of Enlisted Personnel
By Length of Service and Race

12-20 Over
Occupational 0-4 Years 4-8 Years 8-12 Years Years 20 Years
Group
White Black White Black White Black White Black White Black

Ground
combat 20.3 32.7 9.8 17.7 9.6 17.8 9.8 14.5 8.4 12.5
Electronics 14.1 5.6 19.7 10.3 15.6