It was a significant change for a tradition bound military service & ahead of what would follow in the civil service & private sector.
It was the Navy's action plan for Equal Opportunity. Each unit (e.g. ship, sub, aircraft squadron) had to create & implement an Affirmative Action Plan, which included metrics & tracking for promotion, retention & assignment to career enhancing billets, by self-selected "ethnic designator".
Each squadron sent a junior officer (0-1 to O-3) & a petty officer (E-5/E-6) to school to become Facilitators on their unit's Command Training Team, who then conducted structured workshops titled Military Rights & Responsibilities & Cultural Expression in the Navy.
Each unit had a junior officer assigned the collateral duty of HRMO(fficer), to manage & implement the program, & to chair the Command's Human Relations Council (HRC) which was a working group with a rep from each division.
The program was a significant departure for a tradition bound service & was initially greeted with skepticism & resistance, but it was made an inspection item for recurring Command administration inspections by higher authority. Commands which took it seriously (like the squadron I was in at the time, where I was assigned duty as the HRMO), turned it into an asset & found that it helped, rather than circumvented, the chain of command.
For me -- a collateral duty assignment which was more often avoided, rather than sought, turned out to be professionally & personally rewarding & significantly career enhancing in a large, competitive composite T&E squadron, staffed with " front running" junior officers from multiple air warfare communities, where it was easy to get lost in a large competitive "pack".
This program', like others from CNO Zumwalt, was controversial, but it was also ahead of it's time, & was accepted, adapted & endures to this day. It made a difference. It worked
https://observer.com/2016/08/when-bud-z ... -the-navy/
The Navy of 1970 was an all-too-often unhappy organization, rife with racial tension. President Nixon was determined to convert from a draft to an all-volunteer force, and the pressures on the Navy were increasing. So, when Admiral Zumwalt took over, his impact on the people, their life in the military, and most of all the values were a shock to the system. It was every bit as great as the transition from sail to steam or the introduction of the aircraft carrier. That’s because he truly integrated the Navy, giving blacks and women full and real equal opportunity.
At the same time, Admiral Zumwalt was determined to make the Navy a happier and more productive place. He did away with “Mickey Mouse” regulations that were more a function of tradition than sound management practice or important to military readiness. And not surprisingly, these changes – including an end to discriminatory housing policies and job restrictions based on race, sex, and national origin – were controversial, indeed often resisted or subverted by traditionalists. When Admiral Zumwalt appeared on the cover of Time magazine, it was with a headline that said he was “Determined to drag the Navy kicking and screaming into the 20th century.”
Race relations deteriorated before they improved. There were race riots aboard two aircraft carriers, the Kitty Hawk and Constellation in 1972, and a black sailor was court-martialed – and acquitted – of sabotaging the main engine on the carrier Ranger.
But race relations and morale did improve. Admiral Zumwalt was famous for listening carefully and with an open mind; thinking logically; not being afraid to take risks or buck tradition. He implemented his Navy-wide changed through directives dubbed “Z-grams.” And he not only expected his reforms to be implemented quickly and fully, he led by example. He appointed the first black admiral and the first woman admiral. He admitted women to the Naval Academy and allowed them, to become Navy pilots.
And despite the critics, traditionalists, and knuckle-draggers, the reforms took hold and prevailed. This was not affirmative action; it was equal opportunity and merit.
Today, the Navy is a remarkably effective organization. It also happens to be, like the other branches of the military, diverse. It is a meritocracy that should serve as a model for many other institutions in our divided nation.