tuskegee airmen

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Fighting to Fly

Level

4

Lexile Ranges

Level 1: Less than 810

Level 2: 810-1000L

Level 3: 1010-1200L

Level 4: 1210-1400L

Educational Product

Educators & Students Lexile Level: 1210-1400L
WORK HA

During World War II the United States Army Air Corps 

assembled the first fighter squadron in its history made 

up of Black military pilots. Many years later they became 

known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The accomplishments 

they realized, and adversity they faced down, helped light 

the path toward the modern Civil Rights Movement.

The story of the Tuskegee Airmen began on January 

16, 1941, when the U.S. War Department announced 

plans to create a “Negro pursuit squadron.” The selected 

few would be sent to Alabama to train at Tuskegee 

University, a school already known for producing highlyskilled civilian pilots. Reaction to the announcement 

was not universally positive, especially within the Army 

Air Corps. Although Black men had served in the 

U.S. military long before World War II, they were not 

allowed to fly fighter or bomber airplanes. Many military 

leaders did not think Black men were smart enough or 

capable of handling war planes, although Black pilots had 

ably flown for France during World War I.

In late March of 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited the airfield near 

Tuskegee University. She expressed an interest in taking a 

flight in one of the school’s training aircraft. The pilot for 

her flight was C. Alfred Anderson, who was Tuskegee 

University’s chief instructor pilot. Anderson, who was 

Black, earned his pilot’s license in 1929. Mrs. Roosevelt 

was impressed with Anderson’s skills. Soon after the First 

Lady’s visit to Alabama, the War Department formally 

approved a contract to establish a primary flying school 

at Tuskegee.

The first class of Black aviation cadets began training 

at Tuskegee on July 19, 1941. Twelve men were trained 

to become military pilots, although only five made 

it through the entire program, graduating on March 

7, 1942. Those five were the first of nearly 1,000 Black 

men in 44 classes who would receive fighter or bomber 

pilot training and graduate between 1941 and 1946 at 

Tuskegee. Among the members of that first graduating 

class was Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Davis would go on to 

become a key leader and commander of the squadrons 

and fighter groups the Tuskegee Airmen would serve 

with throughout World War II.

When America entered World War II following the 

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 

the nation’s need for new pilots to deploy overseas as 

part of fighter and bomber squadrons greatly increased. 

Yet resistance to the idea of using Black pilots in actual 

wartime scenarios persisted within the military. The 

training taking place at Tuskegee was considered 

an experiment by government officials and civilian 

observers alike, and many openly expressed their 

confidence the experiment would fail. However, the 

number of Black military pilots trained at Tuskegee 

continued to grow, and by August of 1942 enough had 

graduated to form a full fighter squadron of 33 pilots. 

These pilots were assigned to the 99th Fighter Squadron.

During the war, fighter and bomber squadrons were 

activated, deployed, moved around, merged with 

other units, moved around some more, deactivated 

and then activated again to repeat the process – all 
RD

along often receiving different numerical and name 

designations. The squadrons and groups in which 

the Tuskegee Airmen flew were no different. At one 

point toward the end of the war, all the units in which 

Tuskegee Airmen flew were gathered together as part 

of the 332nd Fighter Group, which consisted of the 

99th, 101st, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons. These 

European-based squadrons were responsible for many 

jobs during the war, including dive bombing bridges, 

strafing enemy targets on the ground, patrolling coastal 

areas and – most famously – for escorting bombers 

with the aim of protecting the large aircraft from enemy 

fighter attack. Each of these squadrons included more 

than pilots. They included mechanics, cooks, doctors, 

nurses and others. Most of these duties also were done 

by Black men and women because the military kept 

Black and White people segregated from each other.

Tuskegee fighter pilots primarily flew four different types 

of aircraft. These included the P-39 Airacobra, P-40 

Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-51 Mustang. All were 

single engine fighters with progressively more power and 

ability to out maneuver enemy aircraft. The P-51 Mustang 

was a favorite among pilots and the aircraft most often 

associated with the Tuskegee Airmen, although they were 

among the last pilots to gain access to the airplane due to 

the continuing racism among military officials who did 

not want Black men fighting alongside them. 

Every squadron painted their airplanes with different 

patterns of colors to help other pilots easily spot which 

aircraft belonged to which squadron during the heat of 

battle in the air. The Tuskegee Airmen often painted a 

portion of their aircraft’s tail red, and finally painted the 

entire tail red when they began flying the P-51 Mustang. 

It was for this reason that during the war these Black 

pilots were known as “Red Tails.” In fact, the name 

“Tuskegee Airmen” was not coined until well after World 

War II, in 1955, when a history of the famous group was 

published in a book called “The Tuskegee Airmen – The 

Story of the Negro in the U.S. Air Force.”

That story is one of brave heroes who fought for their 

nation’s freedom at a time when too many citizens of 

that nation fought to keep Black men and women from 

enjoying those same freedoms. Veteran Tuskegee Airmen, 

of which there are fewer and fewer still alive, are fond of 

pointing out to people that skin color didn’t matter to an 

enemy who was shooting at you or your buddies. Sadly, 

skin color continued to matter in America, even as the 

“Red Tails” were scoring impressive victory after victory in 

Europe. In April 1945, at Freeman Field in Kentucky, 61 

Black officers from the 477th Bombardment Group were 

arrested for trying to enter the base’s White’s only Officer’s 

Club. Even more Black officers were arrested for refusing 

to sign a regulation regarding separate Clubs for Blacks 

and Whites. After being moved to a different airfield, they 

all were released a month later with an official reprimand 

added to their personal records.

Resistance to the Tuskegee Airmen “experiment” 

persisted. In November 1945, a War Department 

committee presented a report to the U.S. Army Chief 

of Staff in which the record of the 332nd Fighter 
NP-2024-01-3231-HQ

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

300 E. Street, SW

Washington, DC 20546

Group’s “Red Tails” was compared with three other P-51 

squadrons flying in Europe. The report both praised 

and criticized the performance of the Black pilots, but 

in calling out their shortcomings used contradictory 

information. For example, while White squadrons 

recorded more enemy fighters shot down during 

bomber escort missions, the Black squadrons lost 

fewer bombers to enemy attack because they did not 

leave their bombers alone to pursue the fighters. The 

report also called for the military to seek out greater 

opportunities for even more Black men and women 

to serve, but it fell short of asking for the complete 

desegregation of the Army. It wasn’t until July 1948 that 

President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order 

to desegregate the military, a milestone in civil rights 

history made possible by the Tuskegee Airmen.

Today, the once-experimental program to use Black 

pilots in mostly all Black squadrons and groups is known 

as the “Tuskegee Experience.” All the men and women 

who served at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, or 

in any of the programs that were part of the “Tuskegee 

Experience,” no matter their sex or skin color, are 

considered by the history books as Tuskegee Airmen. 

Some estimates say that number ranges from 16,000 to 

19,000 persons. 

The Tuskegee Airmen proved they were as good 

as any other group of fighter pilots during

 World War II. Together they flew more than 1,800 

missions, including 351 bomber escort missions. 

They recorded 112 aerial victories in which enemy 

aircraft, including three German jets, were shot down. 

Three “Red Tails” each scored four enemy aircraft shot 

down, which meant there were no “aces” among the 

Black pilots. A pilot must shoot down five enemy 

aircraft to be considered an “ace.” Of the 996 pilots 

who graduated from the Tuskegee program, 352 were 

deployed overseas and 84 of those lost their lives.

Many historical accounts, including those by Tuskegee 

Airmen themselves, claim they never lost a bomber to 

enemy fire. This is a myth that began during a wartime 

atmosphere in which the public was looking for positive 

news, and some wanted to exaggerate the success of the 

Black pilots. In fact, a careful review of war documents 

by Air Force historians revealed the Tuskegee Airmen 

lost 27 bombers during seven missions. Yet that number 

remains impressive considering the average number 

of bombers lost by the other six fighter groups of the 

Fifteenth Air Force was 46.

The Tuskegee Airmen was a successful experiment that 

helped the U.S. win the war in Europe, and led to the end 

of racial segregation in the U.S. military. Their example 

has inspired countless others to see beyond skin color 

and seek equality for all.

Educators! 

Guide/assessment files 

for this reader are at 

https://www.nasa.gov/

stem-content/

red-jensen/