The Triple Nickles The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion 1944 - 1947 for Historical Data on the 555th Test Platoon - First 16 qualified black paratroopers (1944) Enlisted men of the Test Platoon. Front Row from L-R: First Sgt. Walter Morris, first black enlisted man accepted for airborne duty Sgt. Jack D. Tillis Sgt. Leo D. Reed Sgt Daniel Weil *S. Sgt. Hubert Bridges Tech. Grade IV Alvin L.