By David Fax

On Sept. 12, 2024, our nation lost a great American, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Shelton “Ivan” Ware, a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman who passed away at age 101.

Many of us knew that, initially, Lt. Col. Ware enlisted in the Army and served in the famed Red Ball Express, the logistics convoy system of World War II known for rapidly supplying equipment and cargo to Allied forces. As Lt Col. Ware often would say, “We kept the wheels rolling and the guns firing.” 

However, few knew that in the early 1970s, Lt. Col. Ware was instrumental in saving the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Howard from closing. Detachment 130, Howard’s ROTC program, was dear to Lt. Col’s Ware’s heart.

In 1948, after the war, he attended Howard and was a student in the university’s very first AFROTC class. In fact, Lt. Col. Ware served as its cadet battalion commander, leading all cadet activities of Detachment 130 before being commissioned and sent to Lockbourne Army Air Base, Ohio.

Things have a way of coming full circle. About 25 years later, Lt. Col. Ware was assigned back to Howard; this time to command Detachment 130 as its professor of aerospace studies. Shortly after arriving and being briefed on its operations, Lt. Col. Ware saw a problem: Cadet student enrollment was down, way down. 

It was the turbulent 1970s marked by persistent and often violent protests against the unpopular Vietnam War. The war was drawing to a close and the mandatory draft was ending. The African American community was still railing from the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Further, a large swath of Americans was losing faith in the “establishment.”  Simply put, students, particularly Black students, had little appetite for serving in the military. 

In Alabama, Air University (AU), the major component responsible for AFROTC programs, was affected by the decrease in enrollment, too. AU considered closing Detachment 130.

When Lt. Col. Ware became aware of these high-level discussions, he knew decisive action was needed to save Howard’s ROTC program. Can’t you just hear him saying, “Not on my watch!” 

Lt. Col. Ware called on some colleagues who had clout among military brass to discuss the situation and craft a response that would ensure Detachment 130’s survival. One of those colleagues was none other than General Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., the first Black four-star general in the Air Force — the first Black four-star general of any U.S. military service for that matter. 

Gen. James, who also was an original Tuskegee Airman, understood the impact that closing Detachment 130 would have on Black officer accessions to the Air Force, at a time when

Black officers accounted for less than 5% of the total officer ranks.

Gen. James asserted his considerable influence to convince Air University that a detachment at one of the nation’s premier HBCUs must survive. To further demonstrate his unwavering support, Gen. James agreed to be a keynote speaker at a Howard University military event. AU was sympathetic, but the numbers still did not support keeping Detachment 130 open.

Thinking creatively, Lt. Col. Ware led an initiative that resulted in Detachment 130 becoming the hub of a “consortium” of neighboring AFROTC detachments where similar enrollment challenges also existed. 

Initially, this consortium consisted of cadets from American University, Catholic University and Georgetown University. Cadets from those schools attended leadership and military studies at their own campuses, but attended the weekly Leadership Laboratory at Howard University. Today’s consortium includes those schools, but has expanded to include George Washington University, Marymount University, Trinity Washington University, and the University of the District of Columbia.

Ware certainly will be remembered for his direct contributions in the face of combat with the Red Ball Express.  But we must also remember Lt. Col. Ivan Ware, who went on to earn a doctorate degree, as the man whose intellect, creativity, connections and determination ensured that Detachment 130 continues its mission of graduating top quality officers for the U.S. Air Force.

A former Howard University student who was taught by Lt. Col. Shelton “Ivan” Ware, David Fax is a retired Air Force officer and member of the East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. 

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