ortant, he hoped to
turn Royall's experiment back on the Army itself, using it to gain a
foothold for integration in the largest service. Leva and Ohly
suggested to Royall that instead of activating a special unit he
select a Regular Army regiment--Leva recommended one from the 82d
Airborne Division to which a number of black combat units were already
attached--as the nucleus of the experiment. With an eye to the
forthcoming White House investigation, Leva added that, while the
details would be left to the Army, integration of the unit, to be put
into effect "as soon as possible," should be total.[13-46]

[Footnote 13-46: Memo, Marx Leva for SA, 22 Nov 48;
see also idem for Ohly, 16 Nov 48; both in CD
30-1-2, SecDef files.]

The plan for a large-scale integrated unit progressed little (p. 328)
beyond this point, but it was significant if only because it marked
the first time since the Revolution that the Army had seriously
considered using a large number of black soldiers in a totally
integrated unit. The situation was not without its note of irony, for
the purpose of the plan was not to abolish the racial discrimination
that critics were constantly laying at the Army's doorstep. In fact,
Army leaders, seriously dedicated to the separate but equal principle,
were convinced the Gillem Board policy had already eliminated
discrimination. Nor was the plan designed to carry out the President's
order or prompted by the Secretary of Defense. Rather, it was pushed
by Secretary Royall as a means of defending the Army against the
anticipated demands of the President's committee.

The plan died because, while the Army staff studied organizations and
counted bodies, Royall expanded his proposal for an integrated unit to
include elements of the whole national defense establishment. Several
motives have been suggested for his move. By ensnaring the Navy and
Air Force in the experiment, he might impress on all concerned the
problems he considered certain to arise if any service attempted the
integration of a large number of Negroes. An experiment involving the
whole department might also divert the White House from trying to
integrate the Army immediately. Besides, the scheme had an escape
clause. If the Navy and Air Force refused to cooperate, and Royall
thought it likely they would, given the shortage of skilled black
recruits, the Army could then legitimately cancel