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Zumwalt Jr., Admiral Elmo R. "Navy Policy: Chief of Naval Operations." Commander's Digest. Vol. 12, no. 2. Washington, D.C. GPO, May 18, 1972. P. 9.

SuDoc No.: D2.15/2


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FULL TEXT


Navy Policy: Chief of Naval Operations

Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.


  • The Navy is dedicated to eliminating racial prejudice.

  • I think there are, in the Navy, very few people who are consciously segregationist or racist. The larger number of us – among which I would include myself, when I first took this job – are people who feel no conscious sense of discrimination but just haven't become sensitive to the differences, as I was made sensitive to them last year, by the tremendous experience of listening to a group of minority personnel come in and really lay it on the line.

  • From this group of black Navy men and their wives, we learned of discrimination of an order that we had no idea existed... We didn't even understand the nature or basis for some of it until we listened to this group.

  • No directive written in Washington solves the problem by itself... What we've got to do is to continue our educational programs for both the minority and the majority personnel, and, particularly, for those in authority – commanding officers, executive officers, division officers and so on – about the need for understanding cultural differences and doing their utmost to eliminate any unintended discrimination.

  • It is apparent... that there are many areas in which the Navy has discriminated against women. We're moving very rapidly to try to eliminate these inequities so that women, like all other groups, will be given equal opportunity.

  • We have set ourselves a series of objectives, beginning right down at the recruiting level, both for enlisted personnel and officer candidates, to achieve, as rapidly as possible, an equitable share of minority personnel in all officer grades and in all enlisted ratings.

  • The Navy did select its first black admiral this year, Rear Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Jr.

  • We've discovered that there are cultural differences that make it more difficult for some minorities to pass certain examinations... We're trying very hard to correct the examination procedures so that every man will have an equal opportunity.

  • I believe within a very short time it will be apparent to all minority personnel that we have removed the bars and that their opportunities have never been better.
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