The United States Army (U.S. Army) is the oldest and a leading public organization in the U.S. that has challenged racism with attempts to remove many barriers that did not allow for workforce equality and unlimited growth (Moskos & Butler, 1996). Even so, the U.S. Army struggled for years with institutional racism and issues of discrimination. Understanding how systemic racism and acts of racism affect the core of the U.S. Army organization is important in the 21st century and may assist other organizations and leaders in understanding how African Americans experience institutional racism. Many studies on racism and race issues in the U.S. Army use a quantitative lens. Furthermore, most research, books, and news articles center the research on the U.S. Army officer. That presents a gap in the understanding of how racism affects the U.S. Army as a total force. A narrative inquiry using enlisted soldiers with a Critical Race Theory framework adds to the limited research and may fill the gap in understanding institutional racism. Eight participants volunteered for three 90-minute interviews that produce five themes of qualitative data. The themes that emerged were (1) The premilitary racial bubble, (2) In-service game-changers of racism, (3) Post military polarization, (4) The overt and covert nature of racism, (5) Challenging core values. The themes provide a unique voice of color that adds to the knowledge of racism of marginalized voices that were brought forward when narrating through four questions. The questions asked were how the participants experienced racism (1) before, (2) during, and (3) after serving in the understanding about racism? Keyword 1: Critical Race Theory; Keyword 2: Microaggressions; Keyword 3: Enlisted Soldier; Keyword 4: US Army; Keyword 5: Institutional Racism;