Westmoreland, General William C. "Army Policy: Army Chief of Staff."
Commander's Digest. Vol. 12, no. 2. Washington, D.C. GPO, May 18, 1972. P. 7.
SuDoc No.: D2.15/2
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Army Policy: Army Chief of Staff
General William C. Westmoreland
- Good race relations are extremely important to the welfare of the Army and I accord them
the very highest priority.
- Our objective is to provide equal opportunity for all concerned, where an individual can
rise or fall on his own efforts and ability. We feel that we have gone a long way in achieving
this result. We are not satisfied, but we are continuing to march, I think, along the proper
road.
- I hold the commanders in the Army responsible for ensuring that there is equal opportunity
within their units, that they constantly monitor this matter, and, if there are complaints or
grievances, they be investigated in depth and corrective action taken.
- The Army's policies apply not only to black soldiers but to all members: majority and
minority groups, including women.
- One of our problems, which I think is well recognized, is the lack of communication, the
breakdown in communications.
- We have put a great deal of emphasis in recent years on race relations education for both
races. It is important that the races understand one another, and that the problems be laid
on the table and discussed.
- In the matter of full and equal opportunity for enlisted personnel, especially in the lower
grades, I am sure there are still cases of discrimination, cases where equal opportunity has
not been manifest, despite the fact that this is strictly contrary to policy. This is a matter
of education. It is a matter of supervision throughout our ranks to ensure that the policies
of the Department of the Army, characterized by no discrimination and equal opportunity, are
carried out in fact.
- We have also raised our sights, increased our objectives, as an incentive for people in
the field to recruit more black personnel... We hope these programs are successful, because
I think it is extremely important that the composition of the United States Army throughout
its ranks be generally representative of the racial composition of the American population.
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