Since the birth of the Republic, government decisions have been made about who shall be permitted or required to serve in the U.S. military, and under what conditions. These decisions have frequently reflected society’s attitudes toward its stigmatized minorities. Early in the Revolutionary war, for example, Black Americans were barred from service in the Continental Army. Similarly, Negroes were barred from military service early in the Civil War, despite the eagerness of many Northern Blacks to volunteer. Both policies were later reversed  when, respectively, the British began offering freedom to Black slaves who would join their side, and the Union Army faced a serious shortage of troops.

DRRI/DEOMI has developed and implemented a series of race relations and equal opportunity training programs with an evolving scope. Early efforts, for example, included extensive coverage of racial and ethnic minority history, as well as sensitivity training to the perspectives of minority personnel. Later programs focused less on attitude change and sensitivity training, and more on behavioral compliance with non-discrimination policies and regulations. From 1971 to late 1992, DEOMI trained 12,352 recruits in race relations and equal opportunity issues.

In the late 1960s, racial tensions resulted in violent confrontations between Blacks and Whites, significantly affecting morale. As a consequence, the service branches instituted a variety of programs designed to address racial inequities and reduce interracial conflict. In 1971, the Secretary of Defense established the Defense Race Relations Institute (DRRI), which was later renamed the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).

By the 1960s, the proportion of Black personnel had dramatically increased. Evidence remained, however, of both personal and institutional discrimination. At this time, the DOD took new and stronger steps to combat racial discrimination, including housing and other types of discrimination in civilian areas near military installations. The DOD also established civil rights offices to monitor the treatment of minorities. Because of lack of personnel and resources, however, these offices were only minimally effective.

As in past wars, the Korean conflict created a shortage of personnel and Black Americans helped to fill this need. Because of troop shortages and the high costs of maintaining racially segregated facilities, integration rapidly became a reality. In 1951, integration of the Army was boosted by the findings from a study of the impact of desegregation on unit effectiveness of troops deployed in Korea. The researchers concluded that racial integration had not impaired task performance or unit effectiveness, that cooperation in integrated units was equal or superior to that of all-White units, and that serving with Blacks appeared to make White soldiers more accepting of integration. By the end of the Korean conflict, the Department of Defense (DOD) had eliminated all racially segregated units and living quarters.

" Many white Americans (especially Southerners) responded with visceral revulsion to the idea of close physical contact with blacks. Many also perceived racial integration as a profound affront to their sense of social order. Blacks, for their part, often harbored deep mistrust of whites and great sensitivity to any language or actions that might be construed as racial discrimination " (National Defense Research Institute, 1993, p. 160).

Most civilians and military personnel opposed racial integration. One month before President Truman's Executive Order, a Gallup poll showed that 63% of American adults endorsed the separation of Blacks and Whites in the military; only 26% supported integration. A 1949 survey of white Army personnel revealed that 32% completely opposed racial integration in any form, and 61% opposed integration if it meant that Whites and Blacks would share sleeping quarters and mess halls. However, 68% of white soldiers were willing to have Blacks and Whites work together, provided they didn't share barracks or mess facilities.

Nevertheless, racial segregation remained official government policy until President Harry Truman's historic Executive Order 9981, issued a few months before the 1948 election, which "declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." Following this order, the armed forces began to institute a policy of racial desegregation. Desegregation proceeded slowly, however, and met with resistance.

At the beginning of World War II, as in the past, personnel needs dictated that Black recruits be accepted for military service. Once again, Black enlisted personnel were segregated from Whites  usually led by Black officers  and placed in support roles. As the war effort progressed, however, the Navy experimented with integration of enlisted personnel, which was less expensive than maintaining combat-ready segregated units. By the War’s end, more than one million African-Americans served efficiently in various service branches. Inter-racial conflict did not appear to be a problem in combat zones, although some tensions were reported in rear areas. As Stouffer and his colleagues concluded in their social scientific study of the American soldier, events in World War II demonstrated that Blacks were effective fighters and that racial integration in the military would not compromise unit effectiveness.

When they were allowed to serve, Blacks soldiers were treated differently from their White counterparts. Although led by White officers, they were segregated from White troops. When not in battle, they were often assigned to menial occupations in peripheral units. After the Civil War, for example, Blacks were assigned to distant outposts where they fought against Indians. During World War I, most African-Americans were assigned noncombat duties and menial jobs, such as mess orderlies. All-Black units were commanded by White officers, who typically considered such an assignment to be stigmatizing.

In contrast to its escalating efforts to promote racial integration and its increasingly nonrestrictive policies concerning gender, opposition in the armed forces to admitting and retaining gay male and lesbian members has intensified since World War II. Historically, the military did not officially exclude or discharge homosexuals from its ranks, although sodomy (usually defined as anal and sometimes oral sex between men) was considered a criminal offense as early as Revolutionary War times. In 1778, Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin became the first soldier to be drummed out of the Continental Army for sodomy. Throughout U.S. history, campaigns have purged military units of persons suspected of engaging in homosexual acts.