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[[com]]pete with whites on an equal basis, to absorb highly technical school training, and to perform creditably in their subsequent assignments. Evidence of this ability to compete was supplied by the technical schools in the training command. In the six Air Force technical schools, Negro enlisted students, in December 1949, comprised 6.5 percent of total enlisted enrollment, as compared to the over-all Negro enlisted strength of 7.2 percent. In some schools the percentage of Negro students exceeded the percentage of enlisted Negroes in the Air Force - an indication of the present quality of Negro enlistees.

The extent of malassignment under segregation in indicated by the results of the screening of Negro personnel ordered by Air Force Headquarters. At eight bases screened by personnel experts from Lackland Field, it was found that anywhere from 12 to 37 percent of the Negro airmen at these bases were qualified for further technical school training. With the abandonment of segregation these Negroes could be sent to school and then assigned to jobs in white units for which they were qualified.

The Question of Numbers

The opinion had been expressed that the Navy's policy of equal treatment and opportunity in general service was possible because Negroes represented only 2 percent of general ratings. The Air Force experience seemed to the Committee effectively to contradict this argument.

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