Editing Colin Powell (section)

===Early career===
Upon graduation, he received a commission as an [[United States Army|Army]] [[Second Lieutenant (United States)|second lieutenant]];<ref>{{cite web|title = Secretary of State Colin L. Powell (biography)|publisher = The White House|date = April 29, 2003|url = https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/powell-bio.html|access-date = February 3, 2007|archive-date = November 8, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171108210204/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/powell-bio.html|url-status = live}}</ref> at this time, the Army was newly desegregated<ref name="NYT Obit"/> {{xref|(see: [[Executive Order 9981]])}}. He underwent training in the [[state of Georgia]], where he was [[Racial segregation in the United States|refused service]] in bars and restaurants because of the color of his skin.<ref name="BBC Obit.">{{cite news |title=Obituary: Colin Powell |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33957894 |work=BBC News |date=October 18, 2021 |access-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018125857/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33957894 |url-status=live }}</ref> After attending [[Basic Officer Leaders Course|basic training]] at [[Fort Benning]], Powell was assigned to the [[48th Infantry Regiment (United States)|48th Infantry]], in [[West Germany]], as a [[platoon leader]].<ref name="CNN1996">{{cite news |title=Colin Powell |url=http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/san.diego/players/powell.bio/ |publisher=CNN |year=1996 |access-date=December 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000902031325/http://cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/san.diego/players/powell.bio/ |archive-date=September 2, 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1960 to 1962, he served as group liaison officer, company executive officer, and commander of Company A, 1st Battle Group, 4th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Brigade, [[5th Infantry Division (United States)|5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)]] at [[Fort Devens]], Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://armyhistory.org/general-colin-luther-powell/ |title=General Colin Luther Powell |year=2022 |website=Army History.org |publisher=The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army |location=Ft. Belvoir, VA |access-date=August 1, 2022}}</ref>