Tuskegee Airmen

more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African-American and Caribbean-born military
pilots (fighter and bomber) who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd
Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air
Forces. The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics,
instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks and other support personnel.

All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Griel
Field, Kennedy Field, Moton Field, Shorter Field and the Tuskegee Army Air
Fields. They were educated at Tuskegee University (formerly Tuskegee Institute),
located near Tuskegee, Alabama. The group included five Haitians from the
Haitian Air Force and one pilot from Trinidad. It also included a Hispanic or
Latino airman born in the Dominican Republic.

Although the 477th Bombardment Group trained with North American B-25 Mitchell
bombers, they never served in combat. The 99th Pursuit Squadron (later the 99th
Fighter Squadron) was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy
overseas (to North Africa in April 1943, and later to Sicily and Italy). The
332nd Fighter Group, which originally included the 100th, 301st and 302nd
Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group. It deployed to Italy in
early 1944. In June 1944, the 332nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber
escort missions and, in July 1944, with the addition of the 99th Fighter
Squadron, it had four fighter squadrons.

The 99th Fighter Squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
fighter-bomber aircraft. The 332nd Fighter Group and its 100th, 301st and 302nd
Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P-39
Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944)
and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated,
the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). When the pilots of the 332nd
Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47s red, the nickname "Red Tails" was
coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red
bands on the noses of P-51s as well as a red rudder; the P-51B and D Mustangs
flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands
and all-red tail surfaces.

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American military aviators in the
United States Armed Forces. During World War II, black Americans in many U.S.
states were still subject to the Jim Crow laws and the American military was
racially segregated, as was much of the federal government. The Tuskegee Airmen
were subjected to discrimination, both within and outside the army.

Background

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had been a U.S. military pilot.
In 1917, African-American men had tried to become aerial observers but were
rejected African-American Eugene Bullard served in the French air service during
World War I because he was not allowed to serve in an American unit. Instead,
Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.

The racially motivated rejections of World War I African-American recruits
sparked more than two decades of advocacy by African-Americans who wished to
enlist and train as military aviators. The effort was led by such prominent
civil rights leaders as Walter White of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, labor union leader A. Philip Randolph and Judge
William H. Hastie. Finally, on 3 April 1939, Appropriations Bill Public Law 18
was passed by Congress containing an amendment by Senator Harry H. Schwartz
designating funds for training African-American pilots. The War Department
managed to put the money into funds of civilian flight schools willing to train
black Americans.

War Department tradition and policy mandated the segregation of
African-Americans into separate military units staffed by white officers, as had
been done previously with the 9th Cavalry, 10th Cavalry, 24th Infantry Regiment
and 25th Infantry Regiment. When the appropriation of funds for aviation
training created opportunities for pilot cadets, their numbers diminished the
rosters of these older units. In 1941, the War Department and the Army Air
Corps, under pressure — three months before its transformation into the USAAF —
constituted the first all-black flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron.

Because of the restrictive nature of selection policies, the situation did not
seem promising for African-Americans, since in 1940 the U.S. Census Bureau
reported there were only 124 African-American pilots in the nation. The
exclusionary policies failed dramatically when the Air Corps received an
abundance of applications from men who qualified, even under the restrictive
requirements. Many of the applicants already had participated in the Civilian
Pilot Training Program, unveiled in late December 1938 (CPTP). Tuskegee
University had participated since 1939.

Testing

The U.S. Army Air Corps had established the Psychological Research Unit 1 at
Maxwell Army Air Field, Montgomery, Alabama, and other units around the country
for aviation cadet training, which included the identification, selection,
education, and training of pilots, navigators and bombardiers. Psychologists
employed in these research studies and training programs used some of the first
standardized tests to quantify IQ, dexterity and leadership qualities to select
and train the best-suited personnel for the roles of bombardier, navigator, and
pilot. The Air Corps determined that the existing programs would be used for all
units, including all-black units. At Tuskegee, this effort continued with the
selection and training of the Tuskegee Airmen. The War Department set up a
system to accept only those with a level of flight experience or higher
education which ensured that only the most able and intelligent African-American
applicants were able to join.

Airman Coleman Young, later the first African-American mayor of Detroit, told
journalist Studs Terkel about the process:

They made the standards so high, we actually became an elite group. We were
screened and super-screened. We were unquestionably the brightest and most
physically fit young blacks in the country. We were super-better because of the
irrational laws of Jim Crow. You can't bring that many intelligent young people
together and train 'em as fighting men and expect them to supinely roll over
when you try to **** over 'em, right? (Laughs.)

Formation

A cadre of 271 enlisted men begin training in aircraft ground support trades at
Chanute Field in March 1941 until they were transferred to bases in Alabama in
July 1941. The skills being taught were so technical that setting up segregated
classes was deemed impossible. This small number of enlisted men became the core
of other black squadrons forming at Tuskegee Fields in Alabama.

While the enlisted men were in training, five black youths were admitted to the
Officers Training School (OTS) at Chanute Field as aviation cadets.
Specifically, Elmer D. Jones, Dudley Stevenson and James Johnson of Washington,
DC; Nelson Brooks of Illinois, and William R. Thompson of Pittsburgh, PA
successfully completed OTS and were commissioned as the first Black Army Air
Corps Officers.

In June 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron was transferred to Tuskegee, Alabama and
remained the only Black flying unit in the country, but did not yet have pilots.
The famous airmen were actually trained at five airfields surrounding Tuskegee
University (formerly Tuskegee Institute)--Griel, Kennedy, Moton, Shorter and
Tuskegee Army Air Fields. The flying unit consisted of 47 officers and 429
enlisted men and was backed by an entire service arm. On July 19, 1941, thirteen
individuals made up the first class of aviation cadets (42-C) when they entered
Preflight Training at Tuskegee Institute. After primary training at Moton Field,
they were moved to the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field, about 10 miles (16 km) to
the west for conversion training onto operational types. Consequently, Tuskegee
Army Air Field became the only Army installation performing three phases of
pilot training (basic, advanced, and transition) at a single location. Initial
planning called for 500 personnel in residence at a time.

By mid-1942, over six times that many were stationed at Tuskegee, even though
only two squadrons were training there.

Combat assignment

The 99th was finally considered ready for combat duty by April 1943. It shipped
out of Tuskegee on 2 April, bound for North Africa, where it would join the 33rd
Fighter Group and its commander, Colonel William W. Momyer. Given little
guidance from battle-experienced pilots, the 99th's first combat mission was to
attack the small strategic volcanic island of Pantelleria, code name Operation
Corkscrew, in the Mediterranean Sea to clear the sea lanes for the Allied
invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The air assault on the island began 30 May
1943. The 99th flew its first combat mission on 2 June. The surrender of the
garrison of 11,121 Italians and 78 Germans due to air attack was the first of
its kind.

The 99th then moved on to Sicily and received a Distinguished Unit Citation
(DUC) for its performance in combat.

By the end of February 1944, the all-black 332nd Fighter Group had been sent
overseas with three fighter squadrons: The 100th, 301st and 302nd.

Under the command of Colonel Davis, the squadrons were moved to mainland Italy,
where the 99th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the group on 1 May 1944, joined
them on 6 June at Ramitelli Airfield, nine kilometers south-southeast of the
small city of Campomarino, on the Adriatic coast. From Ramitelli, the 332nd
Fighter Group escorted Fifteenth Air Force heavy strategic bombing raids into
Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Germany.

Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332nd earned an impressive combat record.
The Allies called these airmen "Red Tails" or "Red-Tail Angels," because of the
distinctive crimson unit identification marking predominantly applied on the
tail section of the unit's aircraft.

A B-25 bomb group, the 477th Bombardment Group, was forming in the U.S., but was
not able to complete its training in time to see action. The 99th Fighter
Squadron after its return to the United States became part of the 477th,
redesignated the 477th Composite Group.

Command difficulties?

The new group's first commanding officer was Colonel Robert Selway, who had also
commanded the 332nd Fighter Group before it deployed for combat overseas. Like
his ranking officer, Major General Frank O'Driscoll Hunter from Georgia, Selway
was a racial segregationist. Hunter was blunt about it, saying such things as,
"...racial friction will occur if colored and white pilots are trained
together." He backed Selway's violations of Army Regulation 210-10, which
forbade segregation of air base facilities. They segregated base facilities so
thoroughly that they even drew a line in the base theater and ordered separate
seating by races. When the audience sat in random patterns as part of "Operation
Checkerboard", the movie was halted to make men return to segregated seating.
African-American officers petitioned base Commanding Officer William Boyd for
access to the only officer's club on base. Lieutenant Milton Henry entered the
club and personally demanded his club rights; he was court-martialed for this.

Subsequently, Colonel Boyd denied club rights to African-Americans, although
General Hunter stepped in and promised a separate but equal club would be built
for black airmen. The 477th was transferred to Godman Field, Kentucky before the
club was built. They had spent five months at Selfridge but found themselves on
a base a fraction of Selfridge's size, with no air-to-ground gunnery range and
deteriorating runways that were too short for B-25 landings. Colonel Selway took
on the second role of commanding officer of Godman Field. In that capacity, he
ceded Godman Field's officers club to African-American airmen. Caucasian
officers used the whites-only clubs at nearby Fort Knox, much to the displeasure
of African-American officers.

Another irritant was a professional one for African-American officers. They
observed a steady flow of white officers through the command positions of the
group and squadrons; these officers stayed just long enough to be "promotable"
before transferring out at their new rank. This seemed to take about four
months. In an extreme example, 22-year-old Robert Mattern was promoted to
captain, transferred into squadron command in the 477th days later, and left a
month later as a major. He was replaced by another Caucasian officer. Meanwhile,
no Tuskegee Airmen held command.

On 15 March 1945, the 477th was transferred to Freeman Field, near Seymour,
Indiana. The white population of Freeman Field was 250 officers and 600 enlisted
men. Superimposed on it were 400 African-American officers and 2,500 enlisted
men of the 477th and its associated units. Freeman Field had a firing range,
usable runways, and other amenities useful for training. African-American airmen
would work in proximity with white ones; both would live in a public housing
project adjacent to the base.

Colonel Selway turned the noncommissioned officers out of their club and turned
it into a second officers club. He then classified all white personnel as cadre
and all African-Americans as trainees. One officers club became the cadre's
club. The old Non-Commissioned Officers Club, promptly sarcastically dubbed
"Uncle Tom's Cabin", became the trainees' officers club. At least four of the
trainees had flown combat in Europe as fighter pilots and had about four years
in service. Four others had completed training as pilots, bombardiers and
navigators and may have been the only triply qualified officers in the entire
Air Corps. Several of the Tuskegee Airmen had logged over 900 flight hours by
this time. Nevertheless, by Colonel Selway's fiat, they were trainees.

Off base was no better; many businesses in Seymour would not serve
African-Americans. A local laundry would not wash their clothes and yet
willingly laundered those of captured German soldiers.

In early April 1945, the 118th Base Unit transferred in from Godman Field; its
African-American personnel held orders that specified they were base cadre, not
trainees. On 5 April, officers of the 477th peaceably tried to enter the
whites-only officer's club. Selway had been tipped off by a phone call and had
the assistant provost marshal and base billeting manager stationed at the door
to refuse the 477th officers entry. The latter, a major, ordered them to leave
and took their names as a means of arresting them when they refused. It was the
beginning of the Freeman Field Mutiny.

In the wake of the Freeman Field Mutiny, the 616th and 619th were disbanded and
the returned 99th Fighter Squadron assigned to the 477th on 22 June 1945; it was
redesignated the 477th Composite Group as a result. On 1 July 1945, Colonel
Robert Selway was relieved of the Group's command; he was replaced by Colonel
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. A complete sweep of Selway's white staff followed, with
all vacated jobs filled by African-American officers. The war ended before the
477th Composite Group could get into action. The 618th Bombardment Squadron was
disbanded on 8 October 1945. On 13 March 1946, the two-squadron group, supported
by the 602nd Engineer Squadron (later renamed 602nd Air Engineer Squadron), the
118th Base Unit, and a band, moved to its final station, Lockbourne Field. The
617th Bombardment Squadron and the 99th Fighter Squadron disbanded on 1 July
1947, ending the 477th Composite Group. It would be reorganized as the 332nd
Fighter Wing.

War accomplishments?

In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1941–1946. 355 were deployed
overseas, and 84 lost their lives. The toll included 68 pilots killed in action
or accidents, 12 killed in training and non-combat missions and 32 captured as
prisoners of war.

The Tuskegee Airmen were credited by higher commands with the following
accomplishments:

*1578 combat missions, 1267 for the Twelfth Air Force; 311 for the Fifteenth Air
Force

*179 bomber escort missions, with a good record of protection, losing bombers on
only seven missions and a total of only 27, compared to an average of 46 among
other 15th Air Force P-51 groups

*112 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground and 148
damaged. This included three Me-262 jet fighters shot down

*950 rail cars, trucks and other motor vehicles destroyed (over 600 rail cars)

*One destroyer put out of action. The ship concerned was a World War I-vintage
destroyer (Giuseppe Missori) of the Italian Navy, that had been seized by the
Germans and reclassified as a torpedo boat, TA22. It was attacked on 25 June
1944 and damaged so severely she was never repaired. She was decommissioned on 8
November 1944, and finally scuttled on 5 February 1945.

*40 boats and barges destroyed

Awards and decorations included:

*Three Distinguished Unit Citations

*99th Pursuit Squadron: 30 May–11 June 1943 for actions over Sicily

*99th Fighter Squadron: 12–14 May 1944: for successful air strikes against Monte
Cassino, Italy

*332nd Fighter Group (and its 99th, 100th, and 301st Fighter Squadrons): 24
March 1945: for a bomber escort mission to Berlin, during which pilots of the
100th FS shot down three enemy Me 262 jets. The 302nd Fighter Squadron did not
receive this award as it had been disbanded on 6 March 1945.

*At least one Silver Star

*96 Distinguished Flying Crosses to 95 Airmen; Captain William A. Campbell was
awarded two.

*14 Bronze Stars

*744 Air Medals

*8 Purple Hearts

much more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen



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