| Due
to the rigid pattern of segregation that prevailed in the United
States during World War 11, the training of 926 Black military
aviators was concentrated at an isolated, specially constructed
army airfield near Tuskegee, Alabama, and at Tuskegee Institute.
The first contingent of the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later designated
as fighter squadron), was a group of enlisted technical and
administrative specialists, who had been trained at the U. S.
Army Air Corps Technical Training School at Chanute Field, Rantoul,
Illinois. These individuals established a superior grade
point average during their training period April to November
1941.
Four
hundred and fifty Black fighter pilots, under the command
of Colonel Benjamin 0. Davis, Jr. (later to become the United
States Air Force's first Black Lieutenant General), fought
the aerial war over North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern
France, and Europe flying P-40, P-39, P-47, and P-51 aircraft.
These gallant men flew 16,553 sorties and completed 1,578
combat missions while assigned to the U.S. Army's XII (Tactical)
and XV (Strategic) Air Forces. The 99th Fighter Squadron,
already distinguished by its impressive combat record in North
Africa, Sicily, Italy and over the Anzio beachhead, was joined
by the 100th, 301st, and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, comprising
the 332nd Fighter Group.
The
The Brief History
of the Tuskegee Airmen as revised by the
Alonzo Smith, Jr, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.). is available in pdf
format, you will need Acrobat Reader.
For more informaion, visit the READING
LIST PAGE.
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