t troops 324,560 12.1 55,518 18.7 14.5 2,646 382,724
Electronics
repairmen 239,595 9.0 13,843 4.7 5.5 204 253,642
Communications
specialists 191,372 7.2 12,856 4.4 6.3 392 204,620
Medical personnel 101,793 3.8 11,074 3.8 9.8 76 112,943
Other technicians 52,132 1.9 3,812 1.3 6.8 86 56,030
Administrative
personnel 430,186 16.1 55,543 18.8 11.4 986 486,715
Mechanical
repairmen 498,899 18.6 39,820 13.5 7.4 794 539,513
Draftsmen 144,070 5.4 15,728 5.3 9.8 248 160,046
Service & supply
personnel 283,976 10.6 53,136 18.0 15.7 998 338,110
Miscellaneous/
unknown 245,055 9.1 14,964 5.1 13.5 1,337 261,356
Trainees[a] 166,478 6.2 18,753 6.4 10.1 1,194 186,425
Total 2,678,116 100.0 295,047 100.0 9.9 8,961 2,982,124

[Tablenote a: Represents an Army category only.]

_Source_: Bahr, "The Expanding Role of the Department of Defense As an
Instrument of Social Change." Bahr's table is based on unpublished
data from the DASD (CR).

If a man's assignment and promotion depended ultimately on his (p. 573)
aptitude category, that category depended upon his performance in the
Armed Forces Qualifying Test and other screening tests usually
administered at induction. These tests have since been widely
criticized as being culturally biased, more a test of an individual's
understanding of the majority race's cultural norms than his mental
aptitude. Even the fact that the tests were written also left them
open to charges of bias. Some educational psychologists have claimed
that an individual's performance in written tests measured his
cultural and educational background, not his mental aptitude. It is
true that the accuracy of test measurements was never reassessed in
light of the subsequent performance of those tested. The services paid
little attention to these serious questions in the 1960's, yet as a
Defense Department task force studying the administration of military
justice was to observe later:

the most important determination about a serviceman's future
career (both in and out of the service) is made almost solely on
the basis of the results of these tests: where he will be placed,