Williams was a talented high school student who displayed a very inconsistent performance in his studies. Following high school, he went to California to live with his father and attend one semester at Los Angeles City College. He later said that he was not ready at that time to be a serious student.[5] In 1959 he was drafted into the military, and served as a Private in the United States Army.[4][6] While stationed in the south, he "waged a one man battle against Jim Crow from inside the army. He challenged the racial order with provocative statements to his fellow soldiers. This resulted in an overseeing officer filing a court-martial proceeding against Williams. Williams argued his own case, and was found not guilty.[4] While considering filing countercharges against the officer that had brought him up for court martial, Williams found himself transferred to Korea. Upon arriving there, Williams marked "Caucasian" for race on his personnel form. When challenged on this, Williams replied wryly if he had marked "Black", he would end up getting all the worst jobs.