Army Service Forces Manual M5: Leadership and the Negro Soldier, October 1944

Before WWII, many government agencies studied possible options for racial policies within the armed forces. After much research, numerous acrimonious debates, more research, presidential edicts, committee reports, and more committee reports, the War Department constructed a segregated policy for the enlistment and usage of black Americans within the armed forces. This “segregation without discrimination” approach advocated for white officers to command black soldiers, preferably white southern officers. Military planners did not consider segregation to be inherently unequal or white commanders to be problematic. War Department officials constantly stated they were not going to solve the racial problem—a social problem—within the military. Army Service Forces Manual M5 was crafted as a training manual for white officers to command black troops, with the goal of troop efficiency. Efficient troop utilization meant keeping the black soldiers in segregated units, while also attempting to restrict them to service jobs rather than give them combat assignments.

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Memo: Leadership and the negro soldier
Memo: Leadership and Negro Soldier
Army Service Forces Manual M5: Leadership and the Negro Soldier (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, October 1944).

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