RAF rigour

SIR – When I ran the RAF Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre from 2002 to 2004, the two full days of medical, aptitude and leadership testing were as objective as possible (Letters, February 4), the sole aim being to maximise military effectiveness by identifying those most likely to succeed.

The manpower planning also made the process brutal. It didn’t matter how gifted you were, or how much clout your parents had. If the training requirement for that financial year was 10 pilots or administrators, and you came 11th in the selection process, you missed the cut.

Even then, there were targets to encourage an increase in the representation of women and ethnic minorities, but to let this skew selection or entry into training would have negated the point of the centre. Gp Capt RJA Powell (retd)

Barry Island, Glamorgan

SIR – I read with sadness Allison Pearson’s criticism (Comment, February 3) of the RAF diversity drive.

It is well established that a person of colour, and specifically a black person, is less likely to do well at school, less likely to go to university, less likely to get a higher-paying job and more likely to be incarcerated. These are shocking statistics in any day and age.

How do we try to readdress the balance? Well, partly, in my view, through measures such as positive discrimination. Yes, it’s uncomfortable – and, yes, it means that some will miss out. However, it is a way to overcome systemic inequality of opportunity.

So instead of recoiling in horror at the thought of positive discrimination, let us stop and ask some deeper questions, including: what kind of society do we want to be? I know I want to be part of one that has the capacity to see the bigger picture and is able to approach societal challenges with an open mind.

Penelope Walker

Lower Somersham, Suffolk