Zone1 Poll: Although the Tuskegee Airmen Accomplished What They Did BEFORE the Advent of DEI, Do you Consider Them Recipients of DEI?

[Stryder50]

Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum Orgnization

The Museum is a Repository for the History of the Tuskegee Airmen and Boasts the Largest Collection of Airmen Artifacts in the World.

tuskegeemuseum.org

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (U.S. National P​

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Origins​

See also: Civilian Pilot Training Program

Background​

The P-51C Mustang flown by the Commemorative Air Force in the markings of the 302nd Fighter Squadron as a tribute to Lieutenant Colonel Lee Archer.Tuskegee Airman P-51 Mustang taken at Airventure. This particular P-51C is part of the Red Tail ProjectThe Stearman Kaydet training aircraft used by the Tuskegee Airmen, bearing the name Spirit of TuskegeePortrait of Tuskegee airman Edward M. Thomas by photographer Toni Frissell, March 1945

Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African American had been a U.S. military pilot. In 1917, African-American men had tried to become aerial observers but were rejected.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a> African-American Eugene Bullard served in the French air service during World War I because he was not allowed to serve in an American unit. Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a>

The racially motivated rejections of World War I African-American recruits sparked more than two decades of advocacy by African Americans who wished to enlist and train as military aviators. The effort was led by such prominent civil rights leaders as Walter White of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), labor union leader A. Philip Randolph, and Judge William H. Hastie. Finally, on 3 April 1939, Appropriations Bill Public Law 18 was passed by Congress containing an amendment by Senator Harry H. Schwartz designating funds for training African-American pilots. The War Department managed to put the money into funds of civilian flight schools that were willing to train black Americans.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a>

War Department tradition and policy mandated the segregation of African Americans into separate military units staffed by white officers, as had been done previously with the 9th Cavalry, 10th Cavalry, 24th Infantry Regiment and 25th Infantry regiments.

When the appropriation of funds for aviation training created opportunities for pilot cadets, their numbers diminished the rosters of these older units.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>9<span>]</span></a> In 1941, the War Department and the Army Air Corps, under pressure — three months before its transformation into the USAAF — constituted the first all-black flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>10<span>]</span></a>

Because of the restrictive nature of selection policies, the situation did not seem promising for African Americans, since in 1940 the U.S. Census Bureau reported there were only 124 African-American pilots in the nation.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>11<span>]</span></a> The exclusionary policies failed dramatically when the Air Corps received an abundance of applications from men who qualified, even under the restrictive requirements. Many of the applicants had already participated in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, unveiled in late December 1938 (CPTP). Tuskegee University had participated since 1939.<a href="Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>12<span>]</span></a>
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Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Stryder50]

Their commander had one philosophy about escorting, and Zemke and others had different opinions.

The constant problem with close escort is when the enemy fighters hit you, they are at full speed, usually in a dive, and you're not.

That means the attacking fighters have all of the advantages of speed, energy, and initiative.

Zemke developed the Zemke Fan to patrol ahead of the bomber stream and attack the enemy fighters as they were forming up for their mass wave attacks.

Gunther Rall was a friend and he told me that Zemkes tactics were very effective.

I'm with you there !
With the bombers rolling along at @200mph and fighters able to do @350mph, the escorts were hamstrung putting along at slow pace. And you just don't quick change from 200mph to 350+mph.

IIRC, others beside Zemke also sought to take the fight to the German fighters before they could get to the bombers.

I recently finished reading "Masters of the Air" and it details how by start of 1944 USAAF focused more on gaining air supremacy/superiority* so more fighter Squadrons and Groups began letting the bombers be "bait" while the fighters would roam ahead and the edges to find and engage German fighters before they could close with the bomber formations.

* Operation Overlord ~ invasion of France was in near future and had to reduce the German air force ability to intervene to zero.

 

[westwall]

I'm with you there !
With the bombers rolling along at @200mph and fighters able to do @350mph, the escorts were hamstrung putting along at slow pace. And you just don't quick change from 200mph to 350+mph.

IIRC, others beside Zemke also sought to take the fight to the German fighters before they could get to the bombers.

I recently finished reading "Masters of the Air" and it details how by start of 1944 USAAF focused more on gaining air supremacy/superiority* so more fighter Squadrons and Groups began letting the bombers be "bait" while the fighters would roam ahead and the edges to find and engage German fighters before they could close with the bomber formations.

* Operation Overlord ~ invasion of France was in near future and had to reduce the German air force ability to intervene to zero.

The British and German fighter commanders had come to the same conclusions during the Battle of Britain, and the British bombing missions.

Keeping the fighters close to the bombers led to more losses.

 

[Stryder50]

While the 332FG performed well in combat, its record was not remarkably better than any number of other FGs.
Its fame among the public stems from the color of the pilots skim, rather than the content of their service; had they been white pilots, no one would have heard of them.
Thus, they benefit from a form of DEI.

For sake of non-military aviation history and tech readers here, a Fighter Group(FG) usually had 3-4 Squadrons; Squadrons usually had from 16-20 aircraft,with same number of pilots plus a couple of spares.

So a unit like the 332FG which eventually had four Squadrons would be about 60-80 aircraft and about 70-90 pilots. The 332FG was one among scores of fighter groups in Europe Theater, and when one includes the Pacific Theater, as well as the Navy and Marines we are looking at hundreds of fighter squadrons by war's end. By war's end the USA had tens of thousands of aircraft in combat, transport, training and other uses across the planet.

Makes the few score aircraft of the 332FG like a drop in the bucket, so to speak.