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The First World War presented the initial opportunity for black soldiers as
a group to become commissioned officers in the United States Army. Although
three black officers had previously graduated West Point and served bravely
on the plains, skeptics toward the first black officer candidate class, including
President Woodrow Wilson, argued that blacks lacked the intelligence and courage
to lead troops in combat.
Of the 1,000 black college graduates and faculty, and 250 non-commissioned
officers from the 9th and 10th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers," and 24th and 25th
Infantry, who comprised the 17th Provisional Training Regiment at Fort Des Moines,
639 graduated as captains or lieutenants on 15 October 1917.
College graduates enlist
at Fort Des Moines, 1917 |
After completing basic training at sites across the nation, including
Camp Dodge, Iowa, they went on to lead the 92nd Division against Imperial
Germany on the bloody battlefields of France in 1918. Many of those who
survived combat returned to America to become leaders in the battle for
racial equality and their sacrifices launched the integrated officer corps
of today serving in all of America's Armed Forces.
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During the Second World War, Fort Des Moines hosted the formation of
the first Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), later renamed the Women's
Army Corps (WAC), training 72,000 troops and commissioning the first female
officers for non-combat duty between 1942-1945. Among the 436 initial
WAAC officers were 39 black women who graduated as 3rd Officers (2nd Lieutenants)
on 29 August 1942 and served in England and France in 1945. Fort Des Moines
produced 118 black female officers and 3,656 enlisted women by war's end,
representing 4% of all WAC troops. The success of the WACs freed 250,000
male soldiers for combat duty in Europe and the South Pacific.
With these two successful events, the military led the march toward racial
and gender inclusion and equality throughout greater American society.
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WAACs at Fort Des Moines, 1942 |
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"It's important we not forget our history…
It's
(Fort Des Moines) an historic site. It is where we trained
black officers, and members of the Women's Army Corps
were also trained in that area…
I
think it will be good to preserve it, make a museum
out of the barracks, restore the chapel and let it stand
as an important part of the history of this part of
the country and the military history of the nation."
Gen.
Colin L. Powell, USA(ret), 1999
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