The Tuskegee Airman Essays - Tuskegee Airmen, Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

The Tuskegee Airman For my term paper I chose the Tuskegee Airman. They will alway be the most influential air squadron during WWII. I think this because there where a lot racist people that did not want them to succeed, but they did more than just succeed. They became the first black Airforce pilots. It all started when President Roosevelt arranged a meeting in September 1940 with three African-American leaders and members of the Army and Navy. During the meeting, the leaders emphasized three points:(1)equal opportunity for jobs in the defense industry, (2)impartial administration of the new draftlaw, and (3)an opportunity for qualified blacks to learn to fly in desegrated units.*1* A few days later after the meeting, the War Department issued a policy directives stating that black men generally would be admitted into the armed force in numbers equivalent to their percentage in the civilian population. But it was not until a couple months after the meeting in December 1940, that the Army Air Corps submitted a plan for the experiment to establish an all-black fighter squadron. The plan was not official until July 19, 1941 when Major General Walter Weaver, commander of the U.S. Army's Southeastern Air Corps spoke at the Tuskegee Institute Campus.*2* It was then that 13 black men became the first black pilot trainees. Most of the trainees were college graduates, including a policeman, an army officer, a factory inspector, and several young men who were fresh out of college. Also, all of the men were trained at Chanute Air Field in Ratoul, Illinois at the US Army Air Corps Technical Training School. The men of this first squadron were so smart that they established a grade point average never equaled before or after their training.*3* A few miles from the Tuskegee Campus, two air fields were built for the training of the new cadets. The two air fields were Moton Field and the Tuskegee Army Air Field(TAAF). About six miles from the fields was the town of Tuskegee. It was very hostile toward blacks, especially its sheriff. At the TAAF base, very diverse entertainment was offered. Musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne, other celebrities like Joe Louis and the Camel Caravan Orchestra. The first trainer plane used by the squadron was the PT- 17.*4*It was a biplane with unretractable landing gear. The instructor rode with the cadet during the first practice, whether the trainee knew how to fly or not. Before the cadets could earn their wings, they had to complete three phases of the training. These were the primary, basic and advanced courses. In the primary and basic, the cadets would have ground school classroom courses and flying lessons. In the advanced, the cadets would concentrate on military flying. On September 2, 1941, Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr. became the first black man to officially solo an aircraft as an officer of the Army Air Corps.*5* A few days after Davis's solo flight on December 7,1941, in the midst of class 42C's training, the Japanese bombed the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That next day the United States declared war, joining allies with Great Britain, France, and Russia in the fight against the Axis powers Germany, Italy and Japan. It was not until July 3, 1942 that the fourth class of the Tuskegee Institute graduated. The men of this class became the cadets that would fill the 99th squadron, which became the first black squadron of the Army Air Corps. Joining the pilots in the 99th were 14 other officers who provided support services and commanded the 35 enlisted men who serviced the planes. In nine months to a year, they had mastered skills the Air Force said should require at least five years. The 99th then perfected their skills in the P-40, the plane they would fly in combat. After receiving word from their officers, in October 1942, the Inspector General of the Third Air Force said the 99th was in excellent condition and was ready for immediate departure.*6* Finally on April 1, 1943, over a year after the graduation of the first class, word came "moving out." The next day the 99th climbed aboard a train that would take them to New York where they would board a troop ship. They did not board the ship until April 15,1943, which was bound for North Africa. Then the 99th finally reached Moroco on May 1,1943. When getting off the ship, they said immediately Arab children swarmed them asking for cigarettes and food.*7* While at the first camp in Oved, Nija, Josephine Baker, a well known black performer, entertained the troops. Also, while being at their first camp received their P-40l War