Page 2 - Appendix A

Appendix A: Pilot Responses to Surveys

The survey responses in this appendix come from black men and women who went
through Air Force SUPT from the late 1940’s to 2017. The responses come from two different
survey instruments and are grouped by decade below from the most recent to the Tuskegee
Airmen era.

Many of the respondents were willing to attach their names to their survey responses.
However, I chose to make most of the responses anonymous to protect every participant from
possible retribution—especially those still in uniform (Air Force or Airline uniform). Allowing
anonymity, also helped create an atmosphere of safety for all survey participants and paved the

way for more genuine responses.

The intent of the surveys was not to prove a certain point but to capture as much of the
experiences, emotions, and thoughts of the black pilots went through SUPT. Again though the
surveys were not designed to push the respondents into a certain type of response, there are
some inescapable, recurring themes. I encourage you to look for these themes as you read the
responses.

I highlighted the themes as they presented themselves to me, by inserting quotes from
the survey responses throughout the book. My specific aim was to let the voices of actual black

pilots speak to the issues that I (as a non-pilot) tried to draw attention to in “Black Ceiling.”

I did not quote all of the survey responses in the main body of the book, due to the
sheer volume of responses. And these quotes were just snippets of a person’s entire survey
response. Reading a person’s entire set of responses gives you a different and deeper
perspective, down to the individual student level.

Therefore I would strongly encourage you to read through all of the responses. I found
reading the survey responses so compelling that I was tempted to make them into a book by
themselves! However, I just used the inspiration I found in the responses to help push me to
complete this book! Enjoy!