A RAFC Cranwell IOT Engineer officer contemporary of mine (1976) - at the time of his promotion to air commodore in 2000 at age 47 - became the highest ranking black officer ever to serve in the UK Armed Forces.
You couldn't meet a nicer, more polite, modest, talented officer who was awarded the Sword of Honour for the year - most of us saw him as the frontrunner for the award early on. It is worth remembering that there were 3 x 16-week entries each with up to 120 cadets a year in those days.
His appointments included Phantom SEngO, Phantom OC Eng & Supply Wg, Head of The RAF Presentation Team and Director of Specialist Ground Training at RAFC Cranwell.
His bio appears in 100 Great Black Britons which has the following entry:
Asked about the issue of being black in the UK Armed Forces, his response was: "I certainly encountered no barriers to joining. And I have reflected back over the period I have been in the Service on whether I have encountered discrimination and can honestly say I cannot identify any occasion when I thought this might have been a case in point. I try to educate people by simply being who I am".
Says it all really - opportunities on merit have been there for at least 40 years for those that deserve it.