A successful, integrated ‘Rebel’ flight

I tried to join the Air Force the first week of November 1954 and was told to come back the following week as they were trying to get a “Rebel flight” with all Mississippians. So the next week I enlisted and was sent to Lackland Air Force Base.
Flight 1150 was an all-Rebel flight, but not just Mississippians. We had airmen from Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas. We did not know at that time that we were what the Air Force called an “experimental flight,” as this was shortly after the military was integrated. Among us were 3 black airmen and 47 whites. Our training instructor (TI) was from Laurel, Miss.
My worst memory was during drill competition. Our TI put us in an “oblique” movement, then a Column Left without getting us out of the “oblique.” We felt we would have won the drill competition if it was not for that mistake. So did our TI.
My fondest memory is Jan. 31, 1955. It was the last day of basic training when the Company Officer (CO) got us together with our sister flight for a farewell and accomplishments get-together. That was when we found out that we were an experiment flight to see how well a flight of Southerners compared to a flight of airmen from all over the U.S. got along. The CO said our flight broke all records for the best-behaved flight to go through basic training at Lackland. Not even a bad mark against us, not even an Article 15. But our sister flight had broken the record in the opposite direction.
I expect this record might still stand at Lackland, Flight 1150 November 15, 1954 through Feb. 1, 1955.

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