officers, an impressive
statistic only in the light of the record of a total of sixty black
graduates in the preceding eighty-six years. Furthermore, there were
only 116 black cadets in 1968, a vast proportional increase over
former years but also an indication of the small number of black
officers that could be expected from that source during the next four
years (_Table 26_). Since cadets were primarily chosen by
congressional nomination and from other special categories, little
could be done, many officials assumed, to increase substantially the
number of black cadets and midshipmen. An imaginative effort by Fitt
in early 1964, however, proved this assumption false. Fitt got the
academies to agree to take all the qualified Negroes he could find and
some senators and congressmen to relinquish some of their appointments
to the cause. He then wrote every major school district in the
country, seeking black applicants and assuring them that the academies
were truly open to all those qualified. Even though halfway through
the academic year, Fitt's "micro-personnel operation," as he later
called it, yielded appointments for ten Negroes. Unfortunately, (p. 570)
his successor did not continue the effort.[22-45]

[Footnote 22-45: Ltr, Fitt to author, 21 Oct 76, CMH
files.]

Table 26--Black Attendance at the Military Academies, July 1968

Class Class Class Class Total Total
Academy | of 1969 | of 1970 | of 1971 | of 1972 | Negro | Attendance
Army 10 7 5 9 31 3,285
Navy 2 8 8 15 33 4,091
Air Force 6 10 13 23 52 3,028
Totals 18 25 26 47 116

_Source_: Office, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Civil
Rights).

The ROTC program at predominantly black colleges had always been the
chief source of black officers, but here, again, there was little hope
for immediate improvement. With the exception of a large increase in
the number of black Air Force officers graduating from five black
colleges, the percentage of officers entering the service from these
institutions remained essentially unchanged throughout the 1960's
despite the services' new equal opportunity programs (_Table 27_).
Some civil rights leaders had been arguing for years that the
establishment of ROTC units at predominantly