Dee Hicks was born in Damascus, Arkansas in 1946. She was the tenth of 13 children born to Guy and Augusta Goff. Her father was a Baptist preacher and carpenter by trade, and her mother was a housewife. Hick’s decision to become a nurse became a focal point in her life in the tenth grade. She joined the Future Nurses’ Club and geared her high school classes toward nursing. Later, Hicks went to Oklahoma Baptist University and graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing.

Lucius Blanchard grew up in Ahoskie, North Carolina, and attended the University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill. After acquiring his medical degree, he joined the military for two years and upon leaving became chief resident for the University of Louisville. While there, he took dermatology training and cancer surgery training in the University of Wisconsin allowing him to specialize in skin cancer surgery.

Billy Paul Smith was born in 1942 and educated in segregated black schools in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Texarkana, Texas. He graduated from high school at fifteen and enrolled at Prairie View A&M University, where he trained with the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He earned his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and in 1964, his Master’s degrees in chemistry and math. Smith’s math and science background steered him to the United States Army Chemical Corps, where he was quickly selected to join a new team.