icy Board and in keeping with the Defense
Secretary's equal treatment and opportunity directive of 6 April 1949.
Some further delay resulted from the Personnel Policy Board's abortive
attempt to achieve an equal opportunity program common to all the
services. The Air Force plan was not finally approved by the Secretary
of Defense until 11 May. Some in the Air Force were worried about the
long delay in approval. As early as 12 January the Chief of Staff
warned Symington that budget programming for the new 48-wing force
required an early decision on the plan, especially in regard to the
inactivation of the all-black wing at Lockbourne. Further delay, he
predicted, would cause confusion in reassignment of some 4,000
troops.[16-4] In conversation with the Secretary of Defense, Symington
mentioned a deadline of 31 March, but Assistant Secretary Zuckert was
later able to assure Symington that the planners could tolerate a
delay in the decision over integration until May.[16-5]

[Footnote 16-4: Memo, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, CofS, USAF,
for SecAF, 12 Jan 49, SecAF files.]

[Footnote 16-5: Memo, SecAF for Forrestal, 17 Feb 49;
Memo, ASecAF for Symington, 24 Mar 49, sub:
Lockbourne AFB; both in SecAF files.]

By then the long official silence had produced serious consequences,
for despite the lack of any public announcement, parts of the plan had
leaked to the press and caused some debate in Congress and
considerable dissatisfaction among black servicemen. Congressional
interest in the internal affairs of the armed forces was always of
more than passing concern to the services. When a discussion of the
new integration plan appearing in the Washington _Post_ on 29 March
caused a flurry of comment on Capitol Hill, Zuckert's assistant,
Clarence H. Osthagen, met with the clerk of the House Armed Services
Committee to "explain and clarify" for the Air Force. The clerk,
Robert Harper, warned Osthagen that the impression in the House was
that a "complete intermingling of Negro and white personnel was to
take place" and that Congressman Winstead of Mississippi had been
tempted to make a speech on the subject. Still, Harper predicted that
there would be no adverse criticism of the plan in the House "at this
time," adding that since that body had already passed the Air Force
appropriation Chairman Carl Vinson was generally unconcerned about the
Ai