Chief of Staff on 19 November 1945.]

[Footnote 6-21: Memo, CofS for SW, 1 Feb 46, sub:
Supplemental Report of Board of Officers on
Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Post-War Army,
WDCSA 320.2 (1 Feb 46).]

[Footnote 6-22: Ltr, TAG for CG's, AGF et al., 6 May
46, sub: Utilization of Negro Manpower in the
Post-War Army, WDGAP 291.2.]

[Footnote 6-23: WD Press Release, 4 Mar 46, "Report
of Board of Officers on Utilization of Negro
Manpower in the Post-War Army."]

Attitudes toward the new policy varied with interpretations of the
board's statement of objectives. Secretary Patterson saw in the report
"a significant development in the status of the Negro soldiers in the
Army." The immediate effect of using Negroes in composite units and
overhead assignments, he predicted, would be to change War Department
policy on segregation.[6-24] But the success of the policy could not be
guaranteed by a secretary of war, and some of his advisers were more
guarded in their estimates. To Truman Gibson, once again in government
service, but briefly this time, the report seemed a good beginning
because it offered a new approach, one that had originated within the
Army itself. Yet Gibson was wary of its chances for success: The
board's recommendations, he told the Assistant Secretary of War, would
make for a better Army "only if they are effectively carried out."[6-25]
The newly appointed assistant secretary, Howard C. Petersen, was
equally cautious. Explaining the meaning of the report to the Negro
Newspaper Publishers Association, he warned that "a strong policy
weakly enforced will be of little value to the Army."[6-26]

[Footnote 6-24: Memo, SW for CofS, 28 Feb 46, WDCSA
320.2 (28 Feb 46).]

[Footnote 6-25: Memo, Truman Gibson, Expert
Consultant to the SW, for Howard C. Petersen, 28
Feb 46, ASW 291.2 Negro Troops (Post-War).]

[Footnote 6-26: Remarks of the Assistant Secretary of
War at Luncheon for Negro Newspaper Publishers
Association, 1 Mar 46, ASW 291.2.]

Marcus H. Ray, Gibson's successor as the secretary's adviser on racial
affairs,[6-27] stressed the board's ultimate objective