War Within a War

In 1972, violent confrontations between shipmates on the U. S. aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk and Constellation gave rise to an investigation by the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (see link below).  The violence on the Kitty Hawk occurred during war operations off the coast of Vietnam.  The incidents had their genesis in the perceived unequal treatment of black sailors, including unfair treatment under the military code of justice.  There are enough facets to the events (described by some as "race riots" or a "mutiny") to validate a multitude of sociological studies.  I find the most fascinating aspect to be how the politicians in Washington viewed the incidents.  The Armed Services Committee focused its concerns on the discipline in the Navy and the qualifications of recruits.  The concerns of the black sailors seem to have been only superficially examined.  The Committee's recommendation that "more effort is needed to screen out the agitators and troublemakers at the recruit level" is fanciful in view of the fact that the armed forces were desperate for personnel to fill the enlisted ranks.  Many of the sailors who were concerned about their treatment were probably not serving by choice, but rather by chance.  Their only choice was to enlist in the Navy to avoid becoming a foot soldier in the Army.  In 1972, a young man who was a "lottery pick" did not immediately earn millions of dollars.  He earned $144.10 per month.  (The authority to draft "lottery picks" expired June 30, 1973).

http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/racial_incidents.htm