The process of screening Lockbourne's troops was quickly completed, but the process of reassigning them was considerably more drawn-out. The reassignments were somewhat delayed in the first place by indecision, caused by budgetary uncertainties, on the future of Lockbourne itself. By 25 July, a full two months after the screening began, the Lockbourne board had recommended only 181 officers and 700 airmen to Air Force headquarters for new assignment. A short time later, however, Lockbourne was placed on inactive status and its remaining men and women, with the exception of a small caretaker detachment, were quickly reassigned throughout the Air Force.
The staff had predicted that the speed with which the integration order was carried out would follow a geographical pattern, with southern bases the last to integrate, but in fact no special pattern prevailed. For the many Negroes assigned to all-black base squadrons for administrative purposes but serving on a day-to-day basis in integrated units, the change was relatively simple. These men had already demonstrated their ability to perform their duties competently under integration, and in conformity with the new order most commanders immediately assigned them to the units in which they were already working. Except for their own squadron overhead, some base service squadrons literally disappeared when these reassignments were effected. After the screening process, most commanders also quickly reassigned troops serving in the other all-black units, such as Squadron F's, air ammunition, motor transport, vehicle repair, signal heavy construction, and aviation engineer squadrons.[16-26]
There were of course a few exceptions. Some commanders, noticeably more cautious than the majority, began the integration process with considerably less ease and speed.[16-27] As late as January 1950, for example, the Fahy Committee's executive secretary found that, with the exception of a small number of Negroes assigned to white units, the black airmen at Maxwell Air Force Base were still assigned to the all-black 3817th Base Service Squadron, the only such unit he found, incidentally, in a tour of seven installations.[16-28] But as the months went by even the most cautious commander, learning of the success of the new policy in other commands, began to reassign his black airmen according to the recommendations of the screening board. Despite the announcement that some black units would be retained, practically all units were integrated by the end of the first year of the new program. Even using the Air staff's very restricted definition of a "Negro unit," that is, one whose strength was over 50 percent black, statistics show how radical was the change in just one year. (Table 5)
Table 5—Racial Composition of Air Force Units
| Month | Black Units | Integrated Units | Negroes Assigned to Black Units | Negroes Assigned to Integrated Units[1] |
| 1949 | ||||
| June | 106 | 167 | Not available | Not available |
| July | 89 | 350 | 14,609 | 7,369 |
| August | 86 | 711 | 11,921 | 11,977 |
| September | 91 | 863 | 11,521 | 13,290 |
| October | 88 | 1,031 | 9,522 | 15,980 |
| November | 75 | 1,158 | 8,038 | 17,643 |
| December | 67 | 1,253 | 7,402 | 18,489 |
| 1950 | ||||
| January | 59 | 1,301 | 6,773 | 18,929 |
| February | 36 | 1,399 | 5,511 | 20,654 |
| March | 26 | 1,476 | 5,023 | 20,938 |
| April | 24 | 1,515 | 4,728 | 20,793 |
| May | 24 | 1,506 | 4,675 | 21,033 |
Tablenote 1: Figures extracted from the Marr Report; see also monthly reports on AF integration, for example Memo, Dir, Pers Plng, for Osthagen (SecAF office), 10 Mar 50, sub: Distribution of Negro Personnel, SecAF files.
Despite the predictions of some analysts, the effect of integration on black recruitment proved to be negligible. In a service whose total strength remained about 415,000 men during the first year of integration, Negroes numbered as follows (Table 6):
Table 6—Black Strength in the Air Force
| Date | Officer Strength[1] | Enlisted Strength[1] | Percentage of Air Force Strength |
| December 1948 | Not available | Not available | 6.5 |
| June 1949 | 319 (47) | 21,782 (2,196) | 6.0 |
| August 1949 | 330 (32) | 23,568 (2,275) | 6.5 |
| December 1949 | 368 (18) | 25,523 (3,072) | 7.2 |
| May 1950 | 341 (8) | 25,367 (2,611) | 7.1 |
Tablenote 1: Includes in parentheses the Special Category Army Personnel with Air Force (SCARWAF), those soldiers assigned for duty in the Air Force but still administratively under the segregated Army, leftovers from the Department of Defense reorganization of 1947. Figures extracted from Marr Report.