how and whether he will be promoted during his hitch, and whether
what he will learn in the service will be saleable for his
post-service career.[22-50]

[Footnote 22-50: Department of Defense, "Report of the
Task Force on the Administration of Military
Justice in the Armed Forces," 30 Nov 72, vol. I, p.
47.]

The Department of Defense depended on the "limited predictive
capability of these tests," the task force charged, in deciding
whether a serviceman was assigned to a "soft core" field, that is,
given a job in such categories as transportation or supply, or whether
he could enter one of the more profitable and prestigious "hard core"
fields that would bring more rapid advancement.

Accurate and comprehensive testing and the measurement of acquired (p. 574)
skills was obviously an important and complex matter, but in 1963 it
was ignored by both the Civil Rights Commission and the Gesell
Committee. President Kennedy, however, seemed aware of the problem.
Before leaving for Europe in the summer of 1963 he called on the
Secretary of Defense to consider establishing training programs keyed
primarily to the special problems of black servicemen found ineligible
for technical training. According to Lee White, the President wanted
to use new training techniques "and other methods of stimulating
interest and industry" that might help thousands of men bridge "the
gap that presently exists between their own educational and cultural
backgrounds and those of the average white serviceman."[22-51]

[Footnote 22-51: Memo, Asst Spec Counsel to President
for SecDef, 27 Jun 63, copy in CMH.]

Because of the complexity of the problem, White agreed with Fitt that
the program should be postponed pending further study, but the
President's request happened to coincide with a special survey of the
deficiencies and changes in recruit training then being made by Under
Secretary of the Army Stephen Ailes.[22-52] Ailes offered to develop a
special off-duty training program in line with the President's
request. The program, to begin on a trial basis in October 1963, would
also include evaluation counseling to determine if and when trainees
should be assigned to technical schools.[22-53] Such a program
represented a departure for the services, which since World War II had
consistently rejected the idea frequently advance