Reuben Keith Green is a retired naval officer who rose from seaman to lieutenant commander is the surface warrior Navy. His unique career path and insight, as well as a lifetime of personal study, make him exceptionally well qualified to tell the story of black officers, particularly Mustang officers, in the era of documented widespread backlash to affirmative action and subsequent resistance to black social gains in the Reagan and first George Bush eras. He stresses the importance of cogent leadership within the military, starting with the Commander in Chief. He graduated from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick AFB, Florida, in 1980, and taught leadership and substance abuse prevention classes, as well as interpersonal and intercultural communications for several years while in the Navy. His close working relationships within the military justice system, with accused and those dispensing justice, gives him important perspectives on why the punishment rates for minority sailors continues to be higher than is statistically appropriate, despite decades of futile attempts by the department of defense to remedy this disturbing phenomenon.