nd the regular forces was confirmed when Runge
responded to a report prepared by the American Veterans Committee on
the lack of racial progress in the guard. The veterans group called on
the administration to use the threat of withdrawal of federal
recognition to alter guard practices.[20-71] The administration
refused. A policy of force might be acceptable for the active armed
forces, but voluntary persuasion seemed more appropriate for the
National Guard. Enunciating what would become the Defense Department's
position on the National Guard through 1963, Runge declared that the
federal government had no legal authority to force integration on the
guard when it was not serving in a federal status. Furthermore, (p. 519)
withdrawal of federal recognition or withholding federal funds as a
means of bringing about integration, though legally sound, would cause
some states to reject federal support and inactivate their units,
thereby stripping the country of a portion of its military reserve and
damaging national security. Citing the progress being made by
persuasion, Runge predicted that some recalcitrant states might in
time voluntarily move toward integration.[20-72] Noting instances of
recent progress and citing legal restrictions against forcing state
compliance, McNamara endorsed the policy of encouraging voluntary
compliance.[20-73]

[Footnote 20-71: Ltr, Murray Gross, Chmn of the AVC,
to SecDef, 22 Jun 61, SD 291.2. The report on the
integration of the National Guard was inclosed.]

[Footnote 20-72: Ltrs, Runge to Murray Gross, 19 Jul
and 29 Nov 61, ASD (M) 291.2, and n.d. (ca. Nov
61), copy in Wofford Collection, J. F. Kennedy
Library.]

[Footnote 20-73: Ltr, SecDef to Rep. Carl Vinson of
Georgia, Chmn, House Armed Services Cmte, 5 Aug 61,
reprinted in Appendix to _Congressional Record_,
87th Cong., 1st sess., vol. 107, p. A6589.]

Although unauthorized, similar patterns of discrimination persisted in
parts of the organized reserves. Reserve units had links with both the
regular forces and the guard. Like the regulars, the reserve was
legally a creature of the federal government and subject to policies
established by the Secretary of Defense. Moreover, the reserve drew
much of its manpower from the pool o