sted
in 1949 was 108, while the average for black enlistees during the same
period was 94.7. New black recruits were almost exclusively enlisted
for stewards duty.[18-10]

[Footnote 18-9: Ltr, CMC to Walter White, 2 Jul 51.]

[Footnote 18-10: Memo, Div of Plans and Policies for
Asst Dir of Public Info, 4 Jun 51, sub: Article in
Pittsburgh _Courier_ of 26 May 51.]

A revision of Defense Department manpower policy combined with the
demands of the war to change all that. The imposition of a qualitative
distribution of manpower by the Secretary of Defense in April 1950
meant that among the thousands of recruits enlisted during the Korean
War the Marine Corps would have to accept its share of the large
percentage of men in lower classification test categories. Among these
men were a significant number of black enlistees who had failed to
qualify under previous standards. They were joined by thousands (p. 463)
more who were supplied through the nondiscriminatory process of the
Selective Service System when, during the war, the corps began using
the draft. The result was a 100 percent jump in the number of black
marines in the first year of war, a figure that would be multiplied
almost six times before war inductions ran down in 1953. (_Table 11_)

Table 11--black Marines, 1949-1955

Percent
Date Officers Enlisted Men of Corps

July 1949 0 1,525 1.6
July 1950 0 1,605 1.6
January 1951 2 2,077 1.2
July 1951 3 3,145 1.6
January 1952 3 8,315 3.7
July 1952 NA 13,858 6.0
January 1953 10 14,479 6.1
July 1953 13 15,729 6.0
November 1953 18 16,906 6.7
June 1954 19 15,682 6.5
January 1955 19 12,456 5.7

A second factor forcing a change in racial policy was the manpower
demands imposed upon the corps by the war itself. When General
MacArthur called for the deployment of a Marine regimental combat team
and supporting air group on 2 July 1950, the Secretary of the Navy
responded by sending the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, which
included the 5th Marine Regiment, th