99th Flying Training Squadron The 99th Flying Training Squadron ( 99 FTS ) is part of the 12th Flying Training Wing based at Randolph Air Force Base , Texas . It operates T - 1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training . The squadron was formed during World War II as the first flying unit for African Americans . Known as the Tuskegee Airmen the unit served with distinction in the European Theater of Operations . Following the war it served as a flight training unit for four years in the 1940s until its inactivation . It was re - activated in 1988 to once again fill a flight training role . History . World War II . The 99th was originally formed as the Army Air Force ' s first African American fighter squadron , then known the 99th Pursuit Squadron . The personnel received their initial flight training at Tuskegee , Alabama earning them the nickname Tuskegee Airmen . The squadron was originally tentatively scheduled to fly air defense over Liberia but was diverted to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations . Considered ready for combat duty , the 99th was transported to Casablanca , Morocco , on the " USS Mariposa " and participated in the North African campaign . From Morocco they traveled by train to Oujda then to Tunis , the location from which they operated against the " Luftwaffe " . Flyers and ground crew alike were isolated in their initial command , the 33d Fighter Group by the racial segregation practices of the Army and group commander Colonel William W . Momyer . The flight crews were handicapped by being left with little guidance from battle - experienced pilots except for a week spent with Colonel Philip Cochran . The 99th ' s first combat mission was to attack the small , but strategic , volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea , in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 . The 99th moved to Sicily where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in combat . Colonel Momyer , however , reported to NAAF Deputy Commander Major General John K . Cannon that the 99th was ineffective in combat and its pilots cowardly , incompetent , or worse , resulting in a critical article in " Time magazine " . In response , the House Armed Services Committee convened a hearing to determine whether the Tuskegee Airmen experiment should be allowed to continue . Momyer characterized the 99th pilots of being incompetent because they had seen little air - to - air combat . To bolster the recommendation to scrap the project , a member of the committee commissioned and then submitted into evidence , a " scientific " report by the University of Texas that purported to prove that African Americans were of low intelligence and incapable of handling complex situations ( such as air combat ) . Colonel Benjamin Davis forcefully denied the claims by committee members , but only the intervention of Colonel Emmett " Rosie " O ' Donnell prevented a recommendation for disbandment of the squadron from being sent to President Franklin D . Roosevelt . General Hap Arnold ordered an evaluation of all Mediterranean Theater P - 40 units be undertaken to determine the true merits of the 99th ; the results showed the 99th Fighter Squadron to be at least equal to other units operating the fighter . While operating from North Africa the unit supported the reduction of enemy fortifications on Pantelleria and Tunisia . The 99th supported Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy and provided close air support to the U . S . 5th Army during its assaults on Foggia and Anzio and for French and Polish armies in their attack on Monastery Hill near Cassino . On January 27 and 28 , 1944 , " Luftwaffe " Fw 190 fighter - bombers raided Anzio , where the Allies had conducted amphibious landings on January 22 . Attached to the 79th Fighter Group , eleven of the 99th Fighter Squadron ' s pilots shot down enemy fighters , including Captain Charles B . Hall , who claimed two shot down , bringing his aerial victory total to three . The eight fighter squadrons defending Anzio together , claimed 32 German aircraft shot down , while the 99th claimed the highest score among them with 13 . The squadron earned its second Distinguished Unit Citation on May 12 – 14 , 1944 , while attached to the 324th Fighter Group , attacking German positions on Monastery Hill ( Monte Cassino ) , attacking infantry massing on the hill for a counterattack , and bombing a nearby strong point to force the surrender of the German garrison to Moroccan Goumier s . In mid - 1944 the squadron was assigned to conduct bomber escort missions . The unit supported bomber missions over Romania , France , Austria , Czechoslovakia , Poland , Yugoslavia and Greece . For its efforts during the war the squadron was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citation s . Flying Training . Following the war the squadron returned to the United States where it flew training missions until its inactivation in 1949 . It was reactivated in 1988 as a flying training unit . With the closure of Williams Air Force Base , Arizona the squadron moved to Randolph Air Force Base , Texas . Today it operates T - 1 Jayhawk aircraft preparing pilots to operate air refueling , airlift , and bomber aircraft . Operations . Operations : Lineage . Lineage : Assignments . Assignments : Bases . Bases stationed : Aircraft . Aircraft Operated :