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^[[Extra Col Marr]]

[[stamp]] [[strikethrough]] CONFIDENTIAL [[/strikethrough]] [[/stamp]]

9 July 1948

MEMORANDUM FOR DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATION
SUBJECT: Negro Personnel Policies

1. Reference is made to attached memorandum from Mr. Evans, subject "Negro Air Units", dated 7 June 1948 (Tab A). Briefly, this memorandum proposes that we split up Lockbourne and send Colonel B.O. Davis to school.

2. Mr. Evans' memorandum suggests two specific actions which, if they were to be accomplished by the Air Force, would be in accordance with our announced policy as contained in the Gillem Board report. Particularly applicable in this case are the following quotations from WD Circular 124, 1946:

a. "Groupings of Negro units with white units in composite organizations will be accepted policy."

b. "The present policy of according all officers, regardless of race, equal opportunities for appointment, advancement, professional improvement, promotion and retention in all components of the Army will be continued."

3. In gathering material on which to base a reply to Mr. Evans, this office has encountered pronounced resistance to Mr. Evans' suggestions, which when coupled with other similar experiences makes it readily apparent that the Air Force policies regarding the utilization of Negro personnel are actually quite divergent from the announced policies as contained in the Gillem Board report.

4. Further evidence of this divergence of policy is contained in the fact that the Gillem Board report was published as WD Circular 124 in April 1946, and as such constituted a directive binding upon the Air Force, yet in May 1948 The Air Board recommended the adoption of the Gillem Board report as basic policy concerning utilization of Negroes in the Air Force.

5. It is difficult to accurately deduce from the fragmentary evidence immediately available just what are the present operating policies of the Air Force in this regard. It appears, however, that the governing policies result in rigid segregation of all Negro combat units at Lockbourne and utilization of practically all other Negro troops in labor units at other bases. There is one notable exception however; in the training establishment Negroes and whites are for the 

[[stamp]] [[strikethrough]] CONFIDENTIAL [[/strikethrough]] [[/stamp]]