Shakone:
The number of military pilots has linearly decreased since WWII. I've been a OSO, Officer Selection Officer since the late 90's, and DO NOT attribute this to military discrimination. I was sent to DuPont to take a class on executive recruitment by the National Guard Bureau and have assisted many Guard bases in recruiting minority pilots. I have also worked in hiring pilots at 2 part 121 carriers.
Here's a little secret to all who might be wondering. Because of affirmative action, minority pilots ONLY compete with minority pilots for pilot positions. In a structured selection process, ie all qualifications objective and given numerical and quantitative scores for various criteria, there is almost no difference in the applicants. I've had days when we had 3 excellent minority applicants, but only 2 minority slots. Guess what happens then? One qualified minority goes home. The other instance, 2 minority slots and only 1 excellent applicant, the white guy goes home, but we never hire anyone who doesn't meet minimun requisite qualifications. I'd say the split is 30/70 percent, respectively. The BIG realization we found was that the top applicants careers are usually lack-luster compared to the guy that barely made it. Go figure. The greatest advantage a military minority has is the he'll actually get to know his peers, a great advantage when dealing with racial preconceptions. Truth is, MOST minority pilots actively sought are just not interested in the military when they have the means to avoid having to push through all of the subjective evaluation. Sad because every American should have such an opportunity to realize what a great country we live in and how much we all have in common once you push through the political BS. My personal problem with A/A is that at long as it is present, minorities have to learn to live with the fact that most will think the only reason you got your job was because of your individual demographics. I have an outstanding career and have many black, white, male, female, rich and poor folks who I highly respect and love. I'm going to enjoy this, and though a little juvenile.....I'm still not gonna tell TonyC whether I'm alive or dead . I'll let him figure that out while he's counting minorities at the airport.