The role of the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program in supporting the Navy's minority accession policies

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the role of the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program in supporting the Navy's minority accession policies. The methodology used involved reviews of the history and implementation of the Navy Affirmative Action Plan (NAAP) and the BOOST program's contribution to increasing the number of Black and Hispanic officers commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program and the United States Naval Academy. The results indicate that the BOOST program has the potential for improving the quality and quantity of minority students who enter the Navy's officer commissioning programs. Much of this potential has already been realized by the Chief of Naval Education and Training through the recent increase in minorities commissioned under the NROTC program. The full potential of BOOST has not yet been realized due to the complexity of developing reliable selection criteria for the program. Several recommendations for improving BOOST are offered here.