The History of Black Officers in the U.S. Navy
Featuring the “Golden Thirteen”
I once considered joining the Navy. Just before graduating from Fisk University, I was recruited to join the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate Program. One of the early steps was to take me up in a T-34 plane with dual controls. While flying, I got to take over the controls and fly a plane from the back seat. We circled over Nashville, and I marveled at the number of backyard pools in the Brentwood area and Vanderbilt, Tennessee State, and Fisk campuses.
The next recruitment phase involved a tour of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. I took a commercial flight to Pensacola; the last part involved flying Souty over the ocean and making a sharp U-turn to find the landing strip, which began not far after reaching dry land. Several recruits took the tour, and we were housed in barracks on base. In no particular order over two days, we toured a decommissioned aircraft carrier, took multiple mental and physical exams, and were taken to the “Official Naval Aviator Strip Club.” That was a designation, not the actual name of the strip joint, but there were pictures of pilots on the walls.
