Negroes in the Strategic Air Command, for example,
were assigned to aviation engineer units where, as construction
workers, they built roads, runways, and housing for the command's
far-flung bases. These duties were transient, however, and like
migrant workers at home, black construction crews were shifted from
base to base as the need arose; they had little chance for promotion,
let alone the opportunity to develop other skills.[11-54]

[Footnote 11-54: See history of various aviation air
units in "History of the Strategic Air Command,
1948," vols VI and VIII, AFSHRC.]

The distribution of Negroes in all commands, and particularly the
shortage of black specialists and officers in the 332d Fighter Wing,
strongly influenced the Air Force to reexamine its racial policy, (p. 285)
but pressures came from outside the department as well as from the
black community which began to press its demands on the new
service.[11-55] The prestigious Pittsburgh _Courier_ opened the
campaign in March 1948 by directing a series of questions on Air Force
policy to the Chief of Staff. General Carl Spaatz responded with a
smooth summary of the Gillem Board Report, leaning heavily on that
document's progressive aims. "It is the feeling of this Headquarters,"
the Chief of Staff wrote, "that the ultimate Air Force objective must
be to eliminate segregation among its personnel by the unrestricted
use of Negro personnel in free competition for any duty within the Air
Force for which they may qualify."[11-56] Unimpressed with this
familiar rhetoric, the _Courier_ headlined its account of the
exchange, "Air Force to Keep Segregated Policy."

[Footnote 11-55: For discussion of the strength of
this outside pressure, see USAF Oral History
Program. Interviews with Davis and Brig Gen Lucius
Theus, Jan 73.]

[Footnote 11-56: Ltr, Lemuel Graves to Gen Carl
Spaatz, 26 Mar 48; Ltr, Spaatz to Graves, 19 Apr
48. A copy of the correspondence was also sent to
the SecAF. See Col Jack F. Marr, "A Report on the
First Year of Implementation of Current Policies
Regarding Negro Personnel," n.d., PPB 291.2.]

[Illustration: COLONEL DAVIS.]

Assistant Secretary Eugene M. Zuckert followed General Spaatz's line
when he me