100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Group IV
Electronics 5.3 1.4 2.9 .5
Other technical 3.7 1.7 2.9 .4
Admin. & clerical 6.9 8.1 7.0 2.5
Mechanics & repairmen 60.8 44.2 35.8 7.3
Crafts 16.4 13.5 32.5 9.5
Services 6.9 31.1 19.4 79.7
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

[Tablenote 1: Excludes personnel not classified by
occupation, such as recruits and general duty
seamen.]

Reporting on promotions, the Defense Department group found that the
relatively limited advancement of black officers was caused chiefly by
their disadvantage in point of time in service and grade, branch of
service, and educational background (_Table 22_). Although the
difference in grade distribution among black and white enlisted men
was much smaller, it too seemed related to disadvantages in education
and service occupation. Again, for Negroes entering the services since
1950, the grade distribution had become similar to that of whites. The
Navy's experience illustrated this point. In the case of those
entering the Navy since the Korean War, the grade distribution of
whites and nonwhites within the first three mental categories was
nearly identical (_Table 23_). The divergences were much wider among
the more senior men in the service groups, but this was probably due
at least in part to the concentration of senior black servicemen in
relatively overmanned specialties, such as food service, where
promotional opportunities were limited. With this exception little
evidence exists that whites enjoyed an advantage over blacks in the
matter of promotions in the enlisted ranks.

Table 22--Percentage Distribution of Blacks and Whites by Pay Grade,
All DOD, 1962

Grade Black White

Officers
O-1 to O-2 35.9 34.5
O-3 47.7 30.2
O-4 12.1 18.0
O-5 4.0 12.0
O-6 to O-10 .3 5.3
Total 100.0 100.0

Enlisted Men
E-1 to E-3 45.5 46.9
E-4 23.1 19.6
E-5 20.1 16.1
E-6 8.2 10.0
E-7 to E