In 1963 White graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He was a part of the JROTC program at Cass Tech, which is highly ranked every year in military competition. In 1967, White graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned in the United States Army. In 1974, he received a Master of Science degree in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. In 1984, he attended the United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.