There was a time when African Americans were thought to lack the intelligence, skill, courage and patriotism necessary in order to serve in the United States military. But no one expected that an elite group of military airmen would go down in history for their heroism during World War II. Known as the Tuskegee Airmen, these men were the first enlisted to become America’s first black military airmen.
Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American has become a U.S. military pilot. Large numbers of men came from New York City, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. The U.S. Army Air Corps established the Psychological Research Unit 1 at Maxwell Army Air Field in Montgomery, Alabama, as well as other units around the country, for aviation training, which included the identification, selection, education and training of pilots, navigators and bombardiers. Those who possessed the physical and mental qualifications were accepted as aviation cadets that were trained as single-engine pilots, and later as twin-engine pilots, navigators or bombardiers.
The black airmen who became single-engine or multi-engine pilots were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Tuskegee, Alabama. The first aviation cadet class began in July 1941. Training completed nine months later in March 1942. There were thirteen men who started in the first class. Five successfully completed training, one of them was Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., a West Point Academy graduate. From 1941 through 1946, 996 pilots graduated at TAAF, receiving commissions and pilot wings.
Four hundred and fifty of the pilots who trained at TAAF served overseas in either the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th Fighter Squadron) or the 332nd Fighter Group. The 99th Fighter Squadron trained in and flew P-40 Warhawk aircraft in combat in North Africa, Sicily and Italy from April 1943 until July 1944 when they were transferred to the 332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force. The 332nd earned an impressive combat record. The Allies called these airmen “Red Tails” or “Red-Tail Angels” because of the distinctive crimson paint predominately applied on the tail section of the unit’s aircraft.
Airmen who did not go overseas and trained at Selfridge Field, Michigan as bomber crew in the 477th Medium Bombardment Group experienced a great deal of racism. The officers were treated as “trainees” and denied access to the base officers’ club, which was an act that contradicted Army regulations.
In all, 996 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1941 to 1946, approximately 445 were deployed overseas, and 150 Airmen lost their lives in accidents or combat. The Tuskegee Airmen were credited with the following accomplishments:
–15,533 combat sorties and 1,578 missions
–112 German aircraft destroyed in the air and another 150 on the ground
–950 railcars, trucks and other motor vehicles destroyed
–A nearly perfect record of not losing U.S. bombers.
After the war in Europe ended in 1945, black airmen were met with continued racism and bigotry in the United States despite their outstanding war record. Tuskegee Army Air Field continued to train new airmen until 1946, with women entering the program in several support fields. Large numbers of black airmen elected to remain in the service but because of segregation, their assignments were limited to the 332nd Fighter Group or the 477th Composite Group, and later to the 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Air Base, Ohio.
During this period following the war, many white units had a low number of men and needed qualified people but were unable to get the experienced black personnel because of the segregation policy. The newly formed U.S. Air Force initiated plans to integrate its units as early as 1947. In 1948, President Harry Truman enacted Executive Order Number 9981, which called for equality of treatment and opportunity in all of the United States Armed Forces.
