jor Cmdrs, 30
Mar 60, sub: Air Force Policy Statement Concerning
Involvement of Air Force Personnel in Local Civil
Disturbances, SecAF files.]

This prohibition did not deter all black servicemen, and some
commanders, in their zeal to enforce departmental policy, went beyond
the methods McNamara's predecessor had recommended. Such was the case
during a series of sit-ins at Killeen, Texas, near the Army's Fort
Hood, where, as reported in the national press and subsequently
investigated by the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the
commander used military police to break up two demonstrations.[20-55]
The secretary's office reacted quickly to the incidents. A (p. 515)
prohibition against the use of military police to quell civil rights
demonstrations was quickly included in the secretary's policy
statement, The Availability of Facilities to Military Personnel, then
being formulated. "This memorandum," Assistant Secretary Runge assured
McNamara, "should preclude any further such incidents."[20-56] In
specific reference to the situation in the Fort Hood area, the Deputy
Under Secretary of the Army reported that as a result of a new policy
and the emphasis placed on personal contact by commanders with local
community representatives, "a cordial relationship now exists between
Fort Hood and the surrounding communities."[20-57]

[Footnote 20-55: Memo, ASD (M) for SecDef, 18 Jul 61,
sub: Use of Military Police to Halt Sit-ins as
Reported by Drew Pearson's Column of July 19 in the
Washington Post; Ltr, U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights Staff Dir Designate to ASD (M), 26 Jul 61;
both in ASD (M) 291.2. The President's office
received considerable mail on the subject; see
White House Cen files, J. F. Kennedy Library.]

[Footnote 20-56: Memo, ASD (M) for SecDef, 18 Jul 61,
sub: Use of Military Police..., ASD (M) 291.2.]

[Footnote 20-57: Memo, Dep Under SA for Counselor,
OASD (M), 12 Jan 62, sub: Off-Base Racial
Discrimination in the Fort Hood Area, ASD (M)
291.2.]

But to ban the use of military police and to urge commanders to deal
with local business leaders to end segregation actually begged the