Integrating the U.S. Army in the Early 20th Century

The integration of the U.S. Armed Forces signifies one of the many adaptations the U.S. military conducted during the Second World War when it came to combat power and reconstitution. As of early 1945, the U.S. Army fielded integrated units as a result of the attrition on the Western Front, but shortly thereafter returned to a segregated force. Attritional losses in the Korean War forced the Army to join its fellow services in following Executive Order 9981, issued in 1948 by President Harry S. Truman, that effectively integrated the Armed Forces. This talk will examine the ways the U.S. military adapted to the combat power demands, which ultimately increased lethality in two different wars.

Dr. Amanda M. Nagel earned her PhD from the University of Mississippi, specializing in U.S.History and Global Conflict. She has taught at the University of Mississippi, Winona State University (MN), the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the School of Advanced Military Studies before coming to the Command and General Staff College’sDepartment of Military History. Her research centers on race, war, empire, masculinity, and citizenship in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. She is currently revising a manuscript examining African American soldiers in the Spanish-American, Philippine-American, and First World Wars for the University of Virginia Press, forthcoming in 2026. She also is a contributor to a collection of essays titled, Race, Reconstruction, and Politics at Old West Point, published with UVA Press in 2024. She has presented at multiple conferences, given public talks at the National WWI Museum in Kansas City, and frequently works with Army University Press’s Editorial Board.

The Ft. Leavenworth Series is an annual roster of lectures focusing on significant historical events, usually with an emphasis on military history. Each lecture is presented by faculty from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Established by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1881, the CGSC is the graduate college for U.S. Army and sister service officers. The esteemed faculty and guests of the CGSC provide unique and captivating insights into the history of military conflict from the ancient to the modern ages at the Dole Institute of Politics.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency.