Progress Report from the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services to President Harry S. Truman

THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE ON EQUALITY OF TREATMENT AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE ARMED SERVICES WASHINGTON 25, D. C. Charles Fahy, Chairman OFFICE OF THE A. J. Donahue EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Lester B. Granger Charles Luckman Dwight Palmer A PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE PRESIDENT John H. Sengstacke William E. Stevenson June 7, 1949. Five months have passed since the members of The President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Op- portunity in the Armed Services met with the President on January 12th. In that time the Committee, as di- rected by the President in Executive Order 9981, has examined with some thoroughness into the 'rules, pro- cedures and practices" of the Armed Services in order to determine how those rules, procedures and practices might be changed to effect the President's policy of equal treatment and opportunity for all men in the na- tion's military arms. In the course of its examination the Committee has conferred at length with the three service secre- taries, assistant secretaries, the Chief of Staff, other general staff officers and specialists in their branches dealing with military practices. Some of the Committee have also recently conferred with the Secretary of De- fense. In addition the Committee and its Staff have visited several military installations. The Committee has also heard individual national organizations that have a particular interest in the matters under the Committee's enquiry. The Committee has felt that the best way to achieve the President's objective was to seek the confidence and help of the Armed Services in working out with the Commit- tee changes in personnel practices which would further the purposes of the Executive Order. The Committee and its Staff have received the co- operation of the Services. The Secretaries of the three arms have put themselves and their staffs completely at the disposal of the Committee, and often on short notice have appeared to answer questions or to confer on trouble- some technical points. Furthermore, the Committee has been TROMAL and "NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS s SERVICE"