Viewing page 33 of 35
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[newspaper clipping]] AIR FORCE ORDERS INTEGRATION OHIO STATE EDITION (MEMBER AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS) THE Pittsburgh Courier AMERICA'S BEST WEEKLY VOL. XL–NO. 21 PITTSBURGH, PA., SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1949 Member Audit Bureau of Circulations PRICE 15 CENTS 332nd To Disband Under New Policy Col. Davis Will Go To School (Defender Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON–The first step in carrying out the new Air Force policy of integrating personnel throughout the service will be to disband the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Air Base, stationed at Columbus, Ohio. The 2,000 officers and men of Lockbourne will be distributed throughout the service in non-segregated units in line with needs of the Air Force commands and individual capabilities. The policy was approved by Defense Secretary Louis Johnson last week. Lockbourne Air Force Base will remain active, although it has not be determined what unit will replace the 332nd Fighter Wing at that Station. It is learned that Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., commanding officer of the base, will enter special training for future assignment, perhaps to one of the "key" Air Force spots. The Air Force will put the new program into full effect by Dec. 31. The policy was submitted to Secretary Johnson by Air Secretary W. Stuart Symington as his proposal for assuring "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the Air Force regardless of race, color, religion or national origin." First Okayed By Secretary Early last month the defense chief ordered the Secretaries of Army, Navy and Air to re-examine their personnel policies and report to him by May 1 on what they are doing to carry out President Truman's Executive Order of last July forbidding discrimination in the armed forces. At that time he invited any new proposals for improving the racial policies of the three services. Symington's proposal so far has been the only one to be accepted by the Defense Secretary. Johnson disclosed he had arrived at no decision on reports submitted by the Army and Navy which led to speculation that they fall short of his expectations. The defense chief said he was "studying" statements they had made concerning their personnel policies and practices. He has directed both services to furnish him "additional clarifying information" by May 25. It was learned from sources close to the situation that the Navy smugly pointed to its "no-segregation" policy pronouncement in a brief report of less than two pages indicating that they considered this going beyond the President's no discrimination demands. However, it is said that Navy officials went into no detail as to how the policy was being carried out. Unanswered Questions Neither did they clear up how the Navy policy pronouncement of complete racial integration has so far failed to produce more than seven Negro Navy officers, two of whom are medical officers, nor explain why some 60 percent of naval enlisted personnel are assigned to the Steward's branch. The Army reportedly pointed to their plan of "gradual integration" under which Negroes have been kept in racially segregated companies and battalions with some units integrated at the divisional and regimental levels. The Army believed to have fallen back on the Gillem Board's report to prop their stabs at racial integration. It is believed that Secretary Johnson is not too impressed with steps taken by the Army and Navy to comply with the President's order nor the racial policy pronouncements of the National Military and may crack down on these two branches of the service if they do not come up with a more convincing report by May 23. To Watch "Screening" Other Negro personnel throughout the Air Force will be screened by their respective commands and their capabilities re-evaluated with a view to possible reassignment changes or additional training, it was stated. The Defender learned that necessary steps will be taken to insure there shall be no discrimination in such "screening" either by race or within race. The new Air Force policy provides that "one standard" shall govern the utilization of both Negro and white personnel. Present Negro strength of the Air Force is 21,026, representing seven per cent of the total personnel in that service. Of this number, 316 are officers, five are warrant officers, and the remainder 20,705, are enlisted personnel. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] Washington Notebook . . . By LEM GRAVES JR. (Courier's Washington Correspondent) Somebody Must Pay Price for Integration WASHINGTON–We have been asking for it and now it looks like we are going to get the chance to see if we like it! Most of us have never really calculated the risks or objectively assayed the gains and losses of integration. We've always been told by Walter White, Bill Hastie and the rest of our civil rights leaders that we wanted integration and since it appears so remove, we haven't worried much about what it would be like. (The exceptions have been some of those comfortably entrenched in the upper level of the jim-crow system who have assayed their own chances for personal loss and have selfishly decided that they didn't want integration.) [[image: portrait photograph of Lem Graves Jr.]] The rest of us have taken pretty much for granted the fact that integration is what we want. Now we are going to get a chance to watch a scale-model integration plan at work on a unit of about 2,000 Negroes. They are the officers and men of the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Army Air Field. The United States Air Force has elected to launch what appears, at least on paper, to be a genuine integration program and the famous "Red Tail" fliers, who have pioneered in many other things since the Air Forces decided that maybe Negroes could fly, have been nominated for this significant test. The unit is to be abolished and the men will be spread throughout the Air Force. * * * WE CAN now stop kidding ourselves and face up to the realistic facts of integration. It is no rose-strewn path. For the men of the 332nd, and for those of us who anxiously kibitz from the sidelines, this is going to be rugged going. We are going to find out some things about integration that we never stopped to think about when we called for an end to jim crow. Here are some of the things we will discover: (1) We will face a "lost gap" in terms of high echelon positions in the initial phases of integration; (2) the protections and special favors, like quotas, qualification differentials, and such security as is inherent in specialized classifications, will be lost to us; (3) we will be at an initial disadvantage in terms of preparation, education, training, experience and rank in the integrated system and will be somewhat less able to compete in the broad channels of American life because we have conditioned ourselves to the rather less exacting conditions of achieving success within the jim-crow framework. (It is a course of considerable bitterness among 332nd pilots that they generally have less rank than do officers with similar flying experience in white units. This can not be passed off to the majority race since, they say, this situation is traceable to the disinclination of Negro Col. B. O. Davis Jr. to recommend promotions of these men who have been under his command practically all their Air Force lives. It is significant that the only two Negro flying officers who have achieved any considerable rank, Colonel Davis himself and Lieut. Col. George Spencer Roberts, received all of their promotions from white superiors. There will be other minor dislocations which will require psychological adjustments in this new situation. Negroes, forced by the system of jim crow, to develop an affinity for the consolation and comforts of the social and physical ghetto, will now find themselves isolated, in small numbers, among large numbers of what many have been conditioned to consider hostile whites. This discomfort will, of course, be of short duration. In the case of these initial efforts at integration, which of a necessity must be taken before the general atmosphere changes to integration, these men will have another difficulty psychological adjustment to make. They will operate on their Air Force posts in a climate entirely different from that of the average civilian U. S. community. In addition they will generally find themselves losing their command positions and having to take subordinate posts at least until they demonstrate, to the satisfaction of many whites who will take a dim and cynical view of this move, that they have the capacity for command and can achieve the respect of their white fellow fliers. * * * THIS IS a tough row for these two men to hoe. But we have to start somewhere. Having been personally close to the 332nd from the Hampton Roads port of embarkation to win glory overseas in World War II, this reporter insists that these 2,000 well-trained, specially screened and generally well-equipped Negro youths are just the men to conquer the pitfalls of integration, to overcome the disadvantages of rank, to give the integration idea a thorough test, and to uncover the gimmicks, if there are any, in the scheme. Somebody must pay the price for integration so that we can know whether it works and whether or not this is the thing we really want. Knowing full well what the price is, I contend that this is what we want and that the price must be paid. The majority of us, watching the Negro fliers and airmen as they sweat out another difficult assignment, may or may not decide that integration is what we want. But we had better find out soon because the machinery is being geared for more and more of this stuff in U. S. life and if we don't want it, we better call a halt soon. I say we want it and we must have it. Segregation must go, if we are to achieve group and individual progress. We can no longer afford either the protections or the demoralizing indignities of jim crow. Good luck, fellows, in this, your finest hour!!! [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] [[underlined]] Integration, at Last? [[/underlined]] 4,000 Tan Airmen Will Be Shifted By LEM GRAVES Jr. (Courier Washington Correspondent) WASHINGTON – This all-Negro 332nd Fighter Wing is to be inactivated by Dec. 31 of this year as the initial step of a new Air Force policy of integration. Lockbourne Army Air Field, Ohio, where the unit is now stationed, will be maintained as an Air Force installation providing civilian employment. According to official Air Force sources, Negro officer pilots and men now assigned to the 332nd will be screened on the basis of routine Air Force qualifications and those meeting the qualifications will be reassigned throughout the various Air Force commands without regard to color. MUST REDUCE The Air Force is required to reduce the number of its fighter groups by one prior to July 1, 1949, and it has decided to liquidate the 332nd and launch the integration plan which has been in the blueprint stage in headquarters here for several months. Budget curtailment is the factor which requires the liquidation of one wing. Presumably, the 332nd will cease to exist after July 1; although the new directive sets the time limit for completion of all of the procedures for reassignment and transition to an integrated program by December 31 of this year. The new integration plan, approved and announced last week by Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, provides that "some units will continue to be manned with Negro personnel." Asked what this meant, Air Force officials pointed out that some Negro air base squadrons, assigned general security and post maintenance functions, will be retained for the present time. Officials explained that in the initial phases of this program it was not considered advisable to inactivate all these squadrons and immediately reactivate white squadrons to perform the same functions. It appears clear that (Continued on Page 4, Col. 1) 4,000 Tan Airmen Will Be Shifted (Continued from Page 1) only about 4,000 of the Air Forces' 20,000 Negroes are to be integrated at present and this has given rise to some cynical comments. Airmen who are currently assigned to those squadrons may apply for transfer if they are qualified for more specialized work. The directive, it was explained, made mandatory the transfer of Negroes who worked as specialists in integrated positions in the daytime but who had been, under the segregated policy, lumped administratively in what was called "Squadron F" units for purposes of mess and quarters. Under this plan, these airmen will immediately be transferred to the units with which they work for all purposes including quarters, mess, recreation and permanent assignment. The directive states that "qualified Negro personnel may be assigned to fill any position vacancy in any Air Force organization or overhead installation without regard to race." All racial strenth for minority groups were wiped out by this directive. All personnel will be required to qualify according to the prescribed standards for enlistment, attendance at schools, promotion, or assignment to specific duties. The elimination of racial consideration and assignment are also required. MUST QUALIFY The directive also points out that separations from the service will be processed on the basis of identical standards which means that Negroes who fall below minimum standards will be released. (Heretofore, Army and Air Force had maintained slightly lower general classification test score minimum standards for Negro personnel.) The directive nullified a previous policy statements regarding Negro Air Force personnel but it pointed out that Army personnel temporarily assigned to Air Force installations would continue to be guided by Army policy. With the elimination of the one jim-crow Air Force combat unit, Negro flyers will be screened as to qualifications by a board of technical Air Force experts. Col. B. O. Davis Jr., commanding officer of the 332nd Wing is expected to head this board. Officials explain that pilots and other officers who qualify for reassignment, will be interviewed to find out if they prefer to stay in the fighter command or prefer to transfer to various other Air Force commands, i.e. strategic long-range bombers, transport, training, or tactical. Presumably, reassignment will be based on the preference factor whenever possible. It is considered improbable that all Negro officers will prefer to remain in the fighter command. Approximately 2,000 men, of which about 270 are officers, are now assigned to the 332nd. All of these face the prospects of reassignment to other units. The Air Force has not decided what unit will replace the 332nd at Lockbourne. The directive to Air Force field commanders did not include specific instructions regarding the elimination of jim-crow recreational, mess, barrack, and other facilities on posts. However, officials explained that some of that has already been done and that this policy on integration clearly implies the elimination of segregated facilities. It was stated that there is no grounds for assuming that Negro men, interspersed as they will be into units all over the Air Force, would be denied participation in any post activities. It was declared that any breaches of the spirit or letter of the new policy plan would not be tolerated by Air Force headquarters and by Secretary of Air Stuart Symington who is said to be wholeheartedly behind this program. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] CLEVELAND CALL and POST SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1949 [[image: photograph of 3 men, 1 holding a football]] [[caption]] Marion Motley, ace Cleveland Brown full-back, demonstrates to Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Commanding Officer of Lockbourne Air Force Base, standing to his left and to Major Edward C. Gleed, Executive Officer, standing to his right how to grasp the pigskin for effective forward passing. (USAF OFFICIAL PHOTO) [[/caption]] [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] PASSING OF 332ND FIGHTER UNIT HERALDED AT CAPITAL The Indianapolis Recorder, May 21, 1949 COLUMBUS, Ohio (ANP) – The crack, all-Negro tactical 332nd Fighter Wing, now stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base under the command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., will soon go down in history as one of the most colorful Negro units in the history of the Armed Forces of this country. The passing of the unit was heralded in Washington last week when Defense Secretary Louis Johnson approved a new policy of distributing Negroes throughout the Air Force instead of concentrating them in special units. The purpose of the move is to assure equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons, regardless of race, religion or national origin. Johnson issued a directive to the Armed Forces last April 6 to shelve the long-standing and traditional segregatory patterns in each service and to report their plans for ending racial discrimination in their respective branches. The Air Force decided to inactivate the Lockbourne unit redistributing its 2,000 members throughout the USAF. No definite date has been set for the inactivation and redistribution, but it is expected to take place shortly. The policy goes into effect immediately and is to be in full operation "on or before Dec. 31, 1949." The 332nd saw extensive service in Italy and Europe during World War II and won a presidential citation. It was part of a composite group, fighter and bomber, which moved into Lockbourne on March 15, 1946. Its designation and composition was changed, except for personnel, to a fighter group and then a wing. Col. Davis has been its only commanding officer here. Many of the commissioned and enlisted personnel won decorations in the war. The Air Force tentatively disclosed that the unit's members will be considered for reassignment "throughout the Air Force and to training schools" in line with Air Force needs and their individual abilities. Col. Davis, highest ranking Negro Air Force officer, is reported scheduled to attend the Air University, Maxwell Field, Ala., upon return from an Air Force gunnery meet at Las Vegas, Neg., in which his unit competed. From the university, he will be assigned to a post in the Air Force as any other colonel. Present Negro strength in the Air Force is 21,026, 7 per cent of the service's total figure. Of that number 316 are officers; five, warrant officers, and the remainder, enlisted personnel. Although the Air Force policy calls for assignment and advancement of Negroes on an individual basis, there will still be some separate Negro units. [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] Lockbourne Base Future in Doubt Decision to disband the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Army Air Base brought renewed speculation Thursday as to what use will be made of the base. Several possibilities were advanced. One was that Port Columbus Naval Units would move to Lockbourne to combine operations with another Army unit. It also was believed that the Army's All-Weather Flying Station at Wilmington, O., might be moved here. The base will remain open after the 332nd is disbanded, for use by National Guard and Reserve Air units currently stationed there. Defense Secretary Louis Johnson said breaking up the all-Negro group is to be the first move in the new anti-discrimination policy for the armed forces. No date has been set for redistribution of the 2000 men stationed at Lockbourne, but the order is expected to be carried through rapidly. Only definite personnel decision at present affects Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., commander of the 332nd and highest-ranking Negro Air Force officer. He will attend the Air University at Maxwell Field, Fla. After he is graduated, he will be assigned to a post in the Air Force as is any other colonel. The Columbus Citizen FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1949 [[/newspaper clipping]] [[newspaper clipping]] Discuss Distribution of Airmen [[image: photograph of 3 men at a desk]] Final plans for screening and reassignment of personnel of the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Air Base were discussed by Air Force officers at a conference Monday. Pictured at the meeting are, left to right, standing, Col. M. D. Mannion and Maj. J. C. Crawford of USAF Headquarters in Washington, and seated, Maj. E. C. Gleed, executive officer at the base. [[/newspaper clipping]]
