Tuskegee Airmen
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
The Tuskegee Airmen were the Black aviators and ground crews that served with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.
They were the first Black people allowed to fly for the U.S. military. Their units were racially segregated: Black crews were not allowed to serve alongside their white counterparts.
The Tuskegee Airmen flew in combat missions in Europe, in addition to working on the home front. They were awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations for extraordinary heroism.
Their name came from their main training facility at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. However, not all Tuskegee Airmen trained here.
The Groups That Made Up the Tuskegee Airmen
99th Fighter Squadron
America’s first Black fighter squadron
This unit flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater. They supported ground troops fighting in Italy and shot down 30 enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat. They flew P-40 Warhawks, P-39 Airacobras, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs.
In May 1944, the 99th joined the 332nd Fighter Group.
332nd Fighter Group
The "Red Tails"
They flew combat missions in the Mediterranean, including escorting American strategic bombers on dangerous missions into Europe. Flying mostly P-51 Mustangs, the red group markings on the back of their aircraft earned them the nickname "Red Tails."
The 332nd began as three fighter squadrons: the 100th, 301st, and 302nd. Later they were joined by the 99th.
477th Bombardment Group
The U.S. Army’s first group of Black bomber crews
The 477th trained to fly B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. The group never flew in combat, due in part to discriminatory practices of several commanding officers.
They consisted of four squadrons: the 616th, 617th, 618th, and 619th.
Liaison Pilots
Some Tuskegee Airmen flew artillery spotting planes for the African American 92nd Infantry Division in Italy, and the 93rd Infantry Division in New Guinea, the Solomons, and the Philippines.
Meet Members of the Tuskegee Airmen
Long before World War II, Charles A. Anderson was making history as the first African American to earn a transport license and for record-setting long distance flights. On the eve of the war, he trained Black pilots in the Civilian Pilot Training Program at the Tuskegee Institute. In 1941, he took First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt up for a flight when she visited Tuskegee. Later that year, when the Army established a training school for the 99th Fighter Squadron in Tuskegee, Anderson remained the Chief Instructor.
Lee A. Archer
Originally from New York City, Lt. Col. Lee Archer became one of the most proficient pilots in the 332nd. He was the third (and final) Tuskegee Airmen to achieve four victories in air-to-air combat. After flying 169 combat missions in World War II, Archer continued to serve in the United States Air Force until 1970.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
By the end of World War II, Benjamin O. Davis Jr. commanded each of the units of the Tuskegee Airmen (at different times). A 1936 graduate of West Point and the son of general, Davis was a member of the first class of cadets to earn their wings at Tuskegee in 1942. He was first selected to lead the new 99th Pursuit Squadron, the Army Air Corps' first all-Black air unit. He later led the 332nd Fighter Group in Europe then the 477th Bombardment Group. After the war, Davis continued to serve in the newly independent and integrated U.S. Air Force. He became the first African American general in the Air Force.
Charles Hall
Maj. Charles Hall was from Brazil, Indiana. He shot down a Focke-Wolf Fw 90 while on an escort mission on July 2, 1943. This marked the first aerial victory for the United States by an African American airman.
Marchbanks was one of two Black medical doctors to complete U.S. Army Air Corps School in Aerospace Medicine at the beginning of World War II. He served as a doctor for the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, he went on to work for NASA and influence the U.S. Air Force reverse their policy on Sickle Cell Disease.
Brig. Gen. Charles McGee began his military career as a Tuskegee Airman. He was stationed in Italy and flew 137 combat missions before returning to Tuskegee as an instructor. He went on to fly 100 combat missions in the Korean War, and 172 missions in the Vietnam War.
Lieutenant “Sammy” Rayner served with the 477th Bombardment Group, who never saw combat. “"They didn’t know what to do with us. We trained and trained,” he recalled. After the war, Rayner was involved in civil rights advocacy and politics in Chicago.
Linkwood Williams
Linkwood Williams, a civilian flight instructor, was one of several talented Black aviators who served as instructors for primary flight training at Tuskegee Airfield.
Noel F. Parrish
A career Army Air Corps pilot, Lt. Col. Parrish took command of Tuskegee Army Air Field in 1941 and oversaw the training of airmen for Black fighter and bomber squadrons. He was a strong supporter of Black aviators.
How Were the Tuskegee Airmen Formed?
Advocating for Opportunities for Black Aviators on the Brink of World War II
Groups like the Challenger Air Pilots Association and the National Airmen’s Association of America (NAAA) advocated for opportunities for Black pilots to be part of federal war preparation programs. The groups used a variety of methods to advocate, from meeting with lawmakers to making news with headline-making flights.
For example, in 1939, the NAAA and the Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper funded a “Goodwill Flight.” Black pilots would fly a single plane from Chicago to Washington, DC to urge lawmakers to create equal access to flying for the military.
Chauncey Spencer and Dale White made the flight. They met several lawmakers, including then Senator Harry S. Truman. Truman is reported to have agreed to fight for including Black pilots in the Army Air Corps.
Civilian Pilot Training Program Paves the Way for Tuskegee Airmen
Established in 1938, the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) did what the name said: trained civilians to be pilots to prepare for war.
Seven schools for Black aviators were selected to offer the training, as well as many schools who only trained white pilots. These seven schools would go on to train many of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Meet The Trainers
Coffey was the first Black American to open an aeronautical school, the Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago. The Coffey School was one of seven schools in the CPTP.
Brown, an accomplished pilot and Coffey’s wife at the time, was director of the Coffee school. She is personally responsible for training 200 Tuskegee Airmen.
As an instructor with the Coffey School of Aeronautics, Perry Young trained over 150 aviators who would go on to become Tuskegee Airmen.
And More
Both Charles "Chief" Anderson and Linkwood Williams were CPTP trainers for the Tuskegee Institute. When the CPTP program in Tuskegee became a military base for the Tuskegee Airmen, both men stayed on as trainers.
Ultimately in 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps began accepting Black pilots into racially segregated units: the Tuskegee Airmen.
The facilities for the Civilian Pilot Training Program established by the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama were transformed into an air base for the pilots.
Who Could Be A Tuskegee Airmen?
“They made the standards so high, we actually became an elite group.”
- Coleman Young, Tuskegee Airmen and future Detroit mayor
The U.S. Army Air Corps required all men applying to be pilots, navigators, or bombardiers to pass standardized tests evaluating their IQ, dexterity, and leadership, regardless of race.
However, the Tuskegee Airmen also met a higher bar. The War Department only accepted those with a significant amount of flight experience or education.
Were There Any Women Who Flew As Tuskegee Airmen?
No women flew as part of the Tuskegee Airmen. However, there were a number of women who worked in support roles from nurses to bulldozing trees off of the airstrip.
Black women could not fly with the Tuskegee Airmen due to their gender. They were also rejected from the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) due to their race.
Challenging Racism
Tuskegee Airmen faced significant racism, both from the civilians where they were stationed and fellow members of the Army. Some of the white leaders in the Army did not want to see the Tuskegee “experiment” succeed, and did their best to set the Black aviators up for failure.
False Claims
Col. Momyer tried to get the 99th Fighter Squadron removed from combat duty claiming that they had not performed well in air-to-air combat.
In reality, Momyer ordered the unit to a ground attack role. Statistically, the 99th Fighter Squadron performed as well as other white squadrons.
Hostile Conditions
Leaders of the 477th Bombardment Group, Col. William Boyd, Maj. Gen. Frank Hunter, and Col. Robert Selway set up segregated conditions against Army orders.
One of their hopes was the hostile conditions would cause the men to act out. Hunter told Selway, “I’d be delighted for them (the Black servicemen) to commit enough actions (referring to protests) that way so I can court-martial some of them.”
Protest and Resistance
The men of the Tuskegee Airmen protested using the means they had access to. Some were indeed court-martialed and even dismissed.
Mutiny at Freeman Field
The most prominent act of resistance came when 61 officers in the 477th Bombardment Group entered the white, segregated officers club over the course of two nights and demanded service. They were arrested.
Selway then ordered officers to read and sign a new regulation, requiring segregation, again in direct opposition to Army policy. 101 refused to sign and were arrested. One of the men that refused to sign wrote “The undersigned wishes to indicate over his signature his unshakable belief that racial bias is Fascistic, un-American, and directly contrary to the ideals for which he is willing to fight and die.”
The Black Military Pilots Who Followed The Tuskegee Airmen
First Black Naval Aviator
First Black Marine Aviator
"The idea of becoming never occurred to me until the Tuskegee Airmen proved themselves in World War II."
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