The Bullet

The Bullet was published weekly by the 25th Infantry stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The 25th Infantry first arrived at the post in 1928, continuing a tradition of Black soldiers serving at Fort Huachuca since 1892. The 25th Infantry would be based there for 14 years, until 1942, when they transitioned to cadre for the newly formed 93rd Infantry Division. 

Most of the 25th Infantry’s time at the fort occurred during peacetime between the two world wars. Besides training, competitive sports took up much of the soldiers’ time in the remote southern Arizona outpost. Competitions between troops and nearby towns were chronicled in The Bullet as well as in the Nogales International [sn 96060774] a newspaper from nearby Nogales, Arizona.  

Segregation was U.S. Army policy and Black soldiers were required to serve in separate military units from white soldiers. These years also saw a reduction overall in the number of Black soldiers serving in the United States Army with African Americans making up less than two percent. By the 1930s the 25th Infantry was the only African American unit in the Army receiving combat training. This would change dramatically in 1941 as the country prepared to enter World War II and activities at the fort expanded swiftly. 

The veteran members of the 25th would begin to train thousands of new recruits in both warfare and physical health, as the 25th pivoted to be the core cadre responsible for the training of the only two African American divisions in the war, the 92nd Division and the 93rd Division.   

An article in the March 29, 1941 issue of The Bullet, “To Our New Soldiers,” gave a brief history of the regiment stating, “You are now members of one of the oldest regiments in the United Stated Army. After the Civil War Congress directed the Secretary of War to reduce the number of infantry regiments to twenty-five as early as practicable. Accordingly, the colored 39th and 40th regiments were consolidated to form the 25th Infantry on March 11, 1869. One hundred and thirty-eight colored regiments were organized during the Civil War.”   

On November 22, 1941, The Bullet  boasted a weekly circulation of 3,000 on its masthead.  By December 25th, 1941, weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that number had jumped to 4,300.  

In "The African American Soldier At Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 1892-1946" historian Steven D. Smith writes, “By December 1942, the number of blacks enlisted in the Army had increased from a 1939 level of 3,640 men to 467,883. This trend continued throughout the war. Total African American representation in the military climbed as high as 701,678 in September 1944 and as high a total percentage as 8.81% in December 1945.”