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| [](me | > Service           | > Airmen        | > James Avenue     |
| dia/i | >                   | >               | >                  |
| mage1 | > U.S. Department   | > National      | > Tuskegee,        |
| .jpeg | > of the Interior   | > Historic Site | > Alabama 36083    |
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| th="0 |                     |                 | > Phone            |
| .5208 |                     |                 | > 334-727-6390     |
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| 33333 |                     |                 | > www.nps.gov/tuai |
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Number range CHAPTER

**[Tuskegee Airmen Background Information]{.underline}**

*Note - This information may also be found on the parks website, at
nps.gov/tuai*

**Overview -** In spite of adversity and limited opportunities, African
Americans have played a significant role in U.S. military history over
the past 300 years. They were denied military leadership roles and
skilled training because many believed they lacked qualifications for
combat duty. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for
the US military. Civil rights organizations and the black press exerted
pressure that resulted in the formation of an all African-American
pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941. They became known
as the Tuskegee Airmen.

"Tuskegee Airmen" refers to all who were involved in the so-called
"Tuskegee Experiment," the Army Air Corps program to train African
Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen
included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff,
instructors, and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air.

**Tuskegee Airmen -** The military selected Tuskegee Institute to train
pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical training. Tuskegee had
the facilities, and engineering and technical instructors, as well as a
climate for year round flying. The first Civilian Pilot Training Program
students completed their instruction in May 1940. The Tuskegee program
was then expanded and became the center for African-American aviation
during World War II.

The Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of
the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They proved
conclusively that African Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated
combat aircraft. The Tuskegee Airmen's achievements, together with the
men and women who supported them, paved the way for full integration of
the US military.

On November 6, 1998, President Clinton approved Public Law 105-355,
which established the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site at Moton
Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, to commemorate and interpret the heroic
actions of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

**One Airman's Story -** Robert Marshall Glass, Captain US Air Force,
Dec 17, 1920 -- Jan 24, 1955

Already a qualified pilot, Robert Marshall Glass was one of the highly
skilled and committed young men to join the 332^nd^ Fighter Group of the
Tuskegee Airmen. Glass was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he
attended public school. He graduated from Carnegie Institute of
Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering. Glass signed up at
Tuskegee Army Air Field on January 28, 1943, and attended cadet school
at Tuskegee. Charles "Chief" Anderson was one of his flying instructors
at Tuskegee and Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., was his commanding officer.

Glass served his country in World War II and during the Korean conflict.
He was a senior pilot with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal,
EAME Campaign medal, American Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit
Citation and the National Defense Service medal. His last duty station
was at Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
At the time of his death, Captain Glass was at the Air Command Staff
School, Maxwell Air Force Base. His name is inscribed on the Memorial
Honor Roll of the Air Force, Air Force Aid Society, Washington, D.C.

**Role of Tuskegee Institute -** The military selected Tuskegee
Institute to train pilots because of its commitment to aeronautical
training. Tuskegee had the facilities, and engineering and technical
instructors, as well as a climate for year round flying. The first
Civilian Pilot Training Program students completed their instruction in
May 1940. The Tuskegee program was then expanded and became the center
for African-American aviation during World War II.

**Civilian Pilot Training -** The few African Americans who learned to
fly in the early 1900s were self-taught or trained overseas. After
Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight, African-American interest in flying
increased. Aviation clubs and schools were formed.

The U.S. government sponsored African-American flight training in 1939
with the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) Act. Administered by the Civilian
Aeronautics Association (CAA), the Act authorized selected schools to
offer CPT primary flight training for pilots in case of a national
emergency. Schools for African-American candidates included Tuskegee
Institute, Howard University, Hampton Institute, and the Coffey School
of Aeronautics. The government paid for ground and flight school
instruction. Colleges provided instructors, physical examinations for
potential students, and transportation to approved flying fields.
Tuskegee Institute originally offered elementary or primary CPT courses.
In July 1940, the CAA authorized Tuskegee Institute to provide advanced
CPT courses.

**Training for War -** Tuskegee, Alabama, became the focal point for the
training of African-American military pilots during World War II.
Tuskegee Institute received a contract from the military and provided
primary flight training while the army built a separate, segregated
base, Tuskegee Army Air Field (also referred to as the Advanced Flying
School) for advanced training. Support personnel were trained at Chanute
Field in Illinois.

The first class, which included student officer Capt. Benjamin O. Davis,
Jr., began training on July 19, 1941. Rigorous training in subjects such
as meteorology, navigation, and instruments was provided in ground
school. Successful cadets then transferred to the segregated Tuskegee
Army Air Field to complete Army Air Corps pilot training. The Air Corps
oversaw training at Tuskegee Institute, providing aircraft, textbooks,
flying clothes, parachutes, and mechanic suits while Tuskegee Institute
provided full facilities for the aircraft and personnel. Lt. Col. Noel
F. Parrish, base commander from 1942-46, worked to lessen the impact of
segregation on the cadets.

Many cadets got their primary flight instruction at Moton Field,
Tuskegee, from Charles A. "Chief" Anderson. The first class of five
African-American aviation cadets earned their silver wings to become the
nation's first black military pilots in March 1942. Between 1941 and
1945, Tuskegee trained over 1,000 black aviators for the war effort.

**Charles "Chief" Anderson -** Known as Charles "Chief" Anderson by the
pilots he trained, Charles Alfred Anderson was a pioneer of
African-American aviation. A commercial pilot, he and Dr. Albert E.
Forsythe were the first African Americans to fly a transcontinental trip
from Atlantic City to Los Angeles and back in 1933. The two later flew a
goodwill flight to Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and six other Caribbean
countries in their plane named *The Spirit of Booker T. Washington.*

Anderson taught civilian pilot training courses at Howard University,
Washington, D.C. In 1940, he joined the faculty at Tuskegee Institute as
head of the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program. Chief Anderson gave
Eleanor Roosevelt a plan ride when she visited Tuskegee in 1941. She was
determined to counter the view that African Americans couldn't fly.
Their photograph was seen all over the U.S. Mrs. Roosevelt's plane ride
gave an enormous boost to black aviation.

The successful CPT under Anderson's leadership was a major factor in the
Army Air Corps decision to establish a primary training program at
Tuskegee. As chief flight instructor at Tuskegee, he supervised primary
flight training for 1,000 African-American pilots at Moton Field.

**Airmen in Combat -** The 99^th^ Fighter Squadron was sent to North
Africa in April 1943 for combat duty. They were joined by the 100^th^,
301^st^, and 302^nd^ African-American fighter squadrons. Together these
squadrons formed the 332^nd^ fighter group. The transition from training
to actual combat wasn't always smooth given the racial tensions of the
time. However, the Airmen overcame the obstacles posed by segregation.
Under the able command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the well-trained
and highly motivated 332^nd^ flew successful missions over Sicily, the
Mediterranean, and North Africa.

Bomber crews named the Tuskegee Airmen "Red-Tail Angels" after the red
tail markings on their aircraft. Also known as "Black" or "Lonely
Eagles," the German Luftwaffe called them "Black Bird Men." The Tuskegee
Airmen flew in the Mediterranean theater of operations. The Airmen
completed 15,500 missions, destroyed over 260 enemy aircraft, sank one
enemy destroyer, and demolished numerous enemy installations. Several
aviators died in combat. The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded numerous high
honors, including Distinguished Flying Crosses, Legions of Merit, Silver
Stars, Purple Hearts, the Croix de Guerre, and the Red Star of
Yugoslavia. They never lost a bomber to enemy fighters. A Distinguished
Unit Citation was awarded to the 332^nd^ Fighter Group for "outstanding
performance and extraordinary heroism" in 1945.

The Tuskegee Airmen of the 477^th^ Bombardment Group never saw action in
WWII. However, they staged a peaceful, non-violent protest for equal
rights at Freeman Field, Indiana, in April 1945.

Their achievements proved conclusively that the Tuskegee Airmen were
highly disciplined and capable fighters. They earned the respect of
fellow bomber crews and of military leaders. Having fought America's
enemies abroad, the Tuskegee Airmen returned to America to join the
struggle to win equality at home.

**Moton Field -** Moton Field was the only primary flight facility for
African-American pilot candidates in the U.S. Army Air Corps (Army Air
Forces) during World War II. It was named for Robert Russa Moton, second
president of Tuskegee Institute. Moton Field was built between 1940.
1942 with funding from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to provide primary
flight training under a contract with the U.S. military. Staff from
Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama, provided assistance in selecting and
mapping the site. Architect Edward C. Miller and engineer G.L.
Washington designed many of the structures. Archie A. Alexander, an
engineer and contractor, oversaw construction of the flight school
facilities. Tuskegee Institute laborers and skilled workers helped
finish the field so that flight training could start on time.

The Army Air Corps assigned officers to oversee the training at Tuskegee
Institute/Moton Field. They furnished cadets with textbooks, flying
clothes, parachutes, and mechanic suits. Tuskegee Institute, the
civilian contractor, provided facilities for the aircraft and personnel,
including quarters and a mess for the cadets, hangars and maintenance
shops, and offices for Air Corps personnel, flight instructors, ground
school instructors, and mechanics. Tuskegee Institute was one of the
very few American institutions to own, develop, and control facilities
for military flight instruction.

After pilot cadets passed primary flight, training at Moton Field, they
transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) to complete their training
with the Army Air Corps. TAAF was a full-scale military base (albeit
segregated) built by the U.S. military. The facility at Moton Field
included two aircraft hangars, a control tower, locker building,
clubhouse, wooden offices and storage buildings, brick storage
buildings, and a vehicle maintenance area. The base at Tuskegee Army Air
Field was closed in 1946. In 1972, a large portion of the air field at
Moton Field was deeded to the city of Tuskegee for use as a municipal
airport which is still in use today.

**Support Personnel -** More than 10,000 African-American men and women
in military and civilian groups supported the Tuskegee Airmen. They
served as flight instructors, officers, bombardiers, navigators, radio
technicians, mechanics, air traffic controllers, parachute riggers, and
electrical and communications specialists.

Support personnel also included laboratory assistants, cooks, musicians,
and supply, fire-fighting, and transportation personnel. Their
participation helped paved the way for desegregation of the military
that began with President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 in
1948. The civilian world gradually began to integrate and African
Americans entered commercial aviation and the space program.

**Benjamin O. Davis -** In 1936, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was the first
African American to graduate from West Point Military Academy in 47
years. First assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, Davis served as an aide
to his father, Brigadier General Davis before transferring to the
military science staff at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama.

As one of the first five graduates to get wings at Tuskegee Army Air
Field in March 1942, Davis was assigned to the newly activated 99^th^
Fighter Squadron. By August of that year, he became squadron commander.
The 99^th^ left for North Africa early in 1943. The group flew many
combat missions under Davis' command. Davis returned to the U.S. in
September 1943 to assume command of the 332^nd^ Fighter Group. Maj.
George S. "Spanky" Roberts remained in Europe and became the commanding
officer of the 99^th^ Fighter Squadron.

The fighter group was transferred to Italy in February 1944 where they
maintained an outstanding combat record. The 332^nd^ flew bomber
escorts. In March 1945, Davis led the 332^nd^ on a 1,600-mile round-trip
escort mission to Berlin. During that mission, the Tuskegee Airmen never
lost a bomber, despite an onslaught of the latest and fastest enemy
German planes. The 332^nd^ won a Distinguished Unit Citation for the
mission.