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Real Hero Report | February 2019 | 21
Eisenhower, and others congratulated him. It was the refreshing ice-cold
Coca Cola...rare in the Mediterranean, he perhaps treasured most. (Photo
taken by Tuskegee Airmen Elmer D. Jones.)
In spite of the adversity, the black press and other African
whites, lobbied tenaciously for Congress and the administration to
promote equality in the military.
The 1939 Civilian Pilot Training Act, which would help
increase the shortage of pilots in in the event of a national
to get a civilian pilot license. The Civilian Pilot Training Program
(CPTP), based at schools around the nation, included several
black educational institutions: Delaware State, Hampton Institute,
Howard University, Morehouse College, North Carolina AT &
T, Tuskegee Institute, West Virginia State and Coffey School of
Aeronautics.
of Colored People (NAACP) assisted Yancey Williams, a Howard
quickly to announce an aviation unit near Tuskegee Institute,
Alabama, would begin accepting blacks for military pilot training.
The unit was to be called the 99th Pursuit Squadron (99th), later
designated the 99th Fighter Squadron.
Tuskegee Airmen group photo, taken October 6, 2017 at Atlanta Warbird
Weekend. Front row, left to right: Harry Stewart, Robert Friend, and
Charles McGee. Back row, left to right: Oscar Wilkerson, Hillard Pouncy,
and Harold Brown. (Photo by John Slemp of aerographs.com.)
Tuskegee
Airmen
Civilian
Flight
Instructors.
ground crews would not have enough time to train and become
protocol depicted they would need a minimum of three or more
years to learn these skills. The black trainees would have the last
laugh. After just eight months of training, they were doing their
jobs well. Their critics, however, were not impressed.
The 99th was activated at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois.
It was designated as the facility for the technical training of the
engineering, armament and communications. Upon completion of
training, the men would transfer to Tuskegee.
to African Americans. Architect, Hilyard Robinson, and the
construction company of McKissack and McKissack, would
handle the development of the 1,700 acres of land purchased
by the military to construct Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF).
Located within 10 miles of Tuskegee Institute and Moton Field,
it would become the military base for the 99th and subsequent
groups and squadrons at Tuskegee.
Jr., arrived at Tuskegee. After completing Primary Flight Training
at Moton Field, successful candidates would then progress to
TAAF for completion of Basic and Advanced Flight Training.
Force (USAF).
Many cadets received their Primary Flight Training at Tuskegee
from licensed, black civilian pilots. Among these instructors
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