The Tuskegee Airmen, the United States’ first black fighter pilot group, was formed as both the 99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group of the 15th Air Force, United States Army Air Force in 1941. The United States military was still segregated at this time, and black soldiers were still subject to second-class citizen status.
All 992 pilots selected for the program, mostly college graduates, were trained at the famed Tuskegee Institute in Alabama founded by Booker T. Washington. The unit’s overall commander was Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who would later become the first black general of the Air Force.
In both training and active service, the members of the Airmen endured tremendous racism from white soldiers. This included an incident in which 103 officers were court-martialed for insubordination after trying to enter one base’s officers’ club.
However, the Airmen proved themselves time and again, especially during the 10 months (June 1944 to April 1945) that they flew escort for the heavy bombers of the 15th Air Force. During the course of 200 missions, not one bomber under their care was shot down by German fighters. This stands as a record unequaled by any other air unit in the USAAF during the war.
The Tuskegee Airmen were deactivated in 1945, following the end of the war in Europe.

— Pat Payne