The Tuskegee Airmen The following will be an inspirational story of breaking barriers within the United States military. Senior Enlisted Leaders must be aware of military history, in doing so, it will help prevent past mistakes from repeating themselves. This paper will bring to light the Tuskegee Airmen experiment and knowing their significance to the United States military, looking at three key areas, the history, evolution, and the effects that resulted from the Tuskegee Airmen experiment. History African Americans serving in greater roles within the United States military has been a struggle for centuries. The opportunities offered to African Americans were always very limited and controversial. Exclusion and racial discrimination were …show more content…
military pilots. Although, subjected to racial discrimination, the 996 aviators and more then 15,000 ground personnel would earn 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their achievements and credited with some 15,500 combat sorties. The highly publicized successes of the Tuskegee Airmen helped pave the way for the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces under President Harry Truman in 1948 (History, 2009). The Tuskegee Airmen shared an experience unique to its time. The experiences of these pioneers opened doors that led to opportunities for others to enter, one could argue that this experiment of the Tuskegee Airmen eventually helped in leading to the Presidency of the United States (National, 2015). Now that the history of the Tuskegee Airman has been discussed, the evolution of this experiment will …show more content…
Modeled on the professionalism of Chief Alfred Anderson, Benjamin O. Davis, and Daniel “Chappie” James, their performance helped pave the way for desegregation of the military, beginning with President Harry S Truman's Executive Order 9981 in 1948. It also helped set the stage for civil rights advocated to continue the struggle to end racial discrimination during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Consequently, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen constitutes a powerful and seminal metaphor for the struggle of African American freedom in the United