r Force racial program. Reporting on Senate reaction, Harper noted
that while many members of the upper house would have liked to see the
plan deferred, they recognized that the President's order made change
mandatory. At any rate, Harper reassured Osthagen, the announcement of
an integration plan would not jeopardize pending Air Force
legislation.[16-6]

[Footnote 16-6: Memo for Files, Osthagen, Asst to
ASecAF, 13 Apr 49, SecAF files.]

Unfortunately, the Air Force's black personnel were not so easily
reassured, and the service had a morale problem on its hands during
the spring of 1949. As later reported by the Fahy Committee staff,
black troops generally supported the inactivation of the all-black
332d Fighter Wing at Lockbourne as a necessary step toward
integration, but news reports frequently linked the disbandment of
that unit to the belt tightening imposed on the Air Force by the 1950
budget. Some Negroes in the 332d concluded that the move was not (p. 399)
directed at integration but at saving money for the Air Force.[16-7]
They were concerned lest they find themselves relegated to unskilled
labor units despite their training and experience. This fear was not
so farfetched, considering Zuckert's private prediction that the
redistribution of Lockbourne men had to be executed exactly according
to the proposed program or "we would find experienced Air Force Negro
technical specialists pushing wheelbarrows or driving trucks in Negro
service units."[16-8]

[Footnote 16-7: Ltr, Joseph H. Evans, Assoc Exec Secy,
Fahy Cmte, to Fahy Cmte, 23 Jun 49, FC file. See
also "U.S. Armed Forces: 1950," _Our World 5_ (June
1950):11-35.]

[Footnote 16-8: Draft Memo, Zuckert for Symington, 15
Feb 49, sub: Air Force Policies on Negro Personnel
(not sent), SecAF files.]

The truth was that, while most Negroes in the Air Force favored
integration, some were disturbed by the prospect of competition with
whites of equivalent rank that would naturally follow. Many of the
black officers were overage in grade, their proficiency geared to the
F-51, a wartime piston plane, and they were the logical victims of any
reduction in force that might occur in this period of reduced military
budgets.[16-9] Some men doubted that the new program, as they
imperfectly understood