Tuskegee Airmen Research Papers

The Tuskegee Airmen were an elite group of African American fighter pilots that belonged to the 332nd fighter group in the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Air Corp. The US Air Corps was established before the United States Airforce became its own individual branch of the military. Although the 332nd fighter group was the first they never served in combat. During the 1920’s and 30’s the Military was still segregated, racial segregation was the rule of law and races did not mix. With World War II on the horizon President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced he would be expanding the civilian pilot training program. This announcement by the president opened the door for young black African American men to join the program. At the time,

The flight was named in dedication to Eleanor Roosevelt and was known as the flight of the first lady. The Tuskegee Experiment, as they were being called, was attracting a lot of attention and became very popular. The first lady took a half hour flight with African American chief civilian instructor C. Alfred Anderson, commonly known as “Chief “. Alfred had trained thousands of rookie pilots and had been flying since 1929. After the half hour flight, the first lady was very impressed and with a smile stated “Well you sure can Fly”. She was so impressed that she used her position to arrange a loan of $175,000 to help finance the building of Moton Airfield. Located in Tuskegee Alabama home of the Tuskegee Institute founded by Booker T. Washington in the heart of the

A cadre of 271 enlisted men began training in aircraft ground support trades. The training was so intense and technical that setting up segregated classes would have been impossible. This small cadre of men would become the core of other black squadrons being formed at Tuskegee and Maxwell training fields in Alabama. There were thirteen Soldiers that graduated the first class of aviation cadets. Among them was the first African American to graduate West Point. Cadet Benjamin O. Davis Jr. the son of Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis. The 99th trained vigorously and awaited their turn to use the skills they had been taught. Although the pilots were trained and ready to fight they were constantly passed over by lesser experienced pilots. The rationale behind this came from the Air Corps commanding officer, General Henry “Hap” Arnold: stating that “Negros cannot be used in our present corps units since this would result in Negro officer serving over white enlisted men creating an impossible social