Editing Tuskegee Airmen (section)

===Origins===
{{See also|Civilian Pilot Training Program}}

====Background====
[[File:P51 Mustang Red Tail.jpg|thumb|The [[North American P-51 Mustang|P-51C Mustang]] flown by the [[Commemorative Air Force]] in the markings of the 302nd Fighter Squadron as a tribute to [[Lee Archer (pilot)|Lieutenant Colonel Lee Archer]].]]
[[File:Tuskegee Airman P-51 Mustang taken at Airventure.JPG|thumb|Tuskegee Airman P-51 Mustang taken at Airventure. This particular P-51C is part of the [[Red Tail Squadron|Red Tail Project]]]]
[[File:Spirit of Tuskegee plane.jpg|thumb|The [[Boeing-Stearman Model 75|Stearman Kaydet training aircraft]] used by the Tuskegee Airmen, bearing the name ''Spirit of Tuskegee'']]
[[File:Tuskegee airman2.jpg|thumb|Portrait 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 [[aviator|pilot]]. In 1917, African-American men had tried to become aerial observers but were rejected.{{sfn|Francis|Caso|1997|pp=38–9}} 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.{{sfn|Lloyd|2000|p=176}}

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 Francis White|Walter White]] of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP), labor union leader [[A.&nbsp;Philip Randolph]], and Judge [[William&nbsp;H. Hastie]]. Finally, on 3 April 1939, Appropriations Bill Public Law 18 was passed by Congress containing an amendment by Senator [[Henry H. Schwartz|Harry H. Schwartz]] designating funds for training African-American pilots. The [[United States Department of War|War Department]] managed to put the money into funds of civilian flight schools that were willing to train black Americans.{{sfn|Francis|Caso|1997|pp=38–9}}

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 Regiment (United States)|9th Cavalry]], [[10th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|10th Cavalry]], [[24th Infantry Regiment (United States)|24th Infantry Regiment]] and [[25th Infantry Regiment (United States)|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.{{sfn|Moye|2010|p=19}} In 1941, the War Department and the Army Air Corps, under pressure — [[1941 in aviation#June|three months]] before its transformation into the [[USAAF]] — constituted the first all-black flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/tuskegee-airmen.cfm|title=The Tuskegee Airmen|website=www2.gwu.edu|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=19 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119133057/https://www.gwu.edu/%7Eerpapers/teachinger/glossary/tuskegee-airmen.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.{{sfn|Moye|2010|p=25}} 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.{{sfn|Benton|1999|loc=p. 43 (Noel F. Parrish)}}

====Testing====
The U.S. Army Air Corps had established the [[List of psychological research methods|Psychological Research Unit 1]] at [[Maxwell Army Air Field]], [[Montgomery, Alabama]], and other units around the country for aviation cadet training, which included the identification, selection, education, and training of pilots, [[flight officer|navigators]] and [[bombardier (air force)|bombardiers]]. Psychologists employed in these research studies and training programs used some of the first [[standardized tests]] to quantify [[IQ]]<!---{{dubious|first IQ tests were Binet-Simon, which led to [[Stanford-Binet]], which led to [[Army Alpha]], which was in use in World War One|date=September 2011}}--->, dexterity, and leadership qualities to select and train the best-suited personnel for the roles of bombardier, navigator, and pilot. The Air Corps determined that the existing programs would be used for all units, including all-black units. At Tuskegee, this effort continued with the selection and training of the Tuskegee Airmen. The War Department set up a system to accept only those with a level of flight experience or higher education which ensured that only the ablest and most intelligent African-American applicants were able to join.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}

Airman [[Coleman Young]] (Second Lieutenant), later the first [[African-American]] [[List of mayors of Detroit|mayor of Detroit]], told journalist [[Studs Terkel]] about the process:

{{blockquote|They made the standards so high, we actually became an elite group. We were screened and super-screened. We were unquestionably the brightest and most physically fit young blacks in the country. We were super-better because of the irrational laws of Jim Crow. You can't bring that many intelligent young people together and train 'em as fighting men and expect them to supinely roll over when you try to fuck over 'em, right? (Laughs.)<ref>Terkel, Studs, American Dreams: Lost and Found, Patheon Books, 1080, pp. 359–360</ref>}}

====First Lady's flight====
The budding flight program at Tuskegee received a publicity boost when [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] inspected it on 29 March 1941, and flew with African-American chief civilian instructor [[C.&nbsp;Alfred "Chief" Anderson]]. Anderson, who had been flying since 1929 and was responsible for training thousands of rookie pilots, took his prestigious passenger on a half-hour flight in a [[Piper J-3 Cub]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redtail.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/silver-wings-civil-rights|title=Mrs. Roosevelt Goes for a Ride - Red Tail Squadron|work=Red Tail Squadron|access-date=4 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324113003/http://www.redtail.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/silver-wings-civil-rights/|archive-date=24 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eleanor Roosevelt and the Tuskegee Airmen |url=https://www.fdrlibrary.org/tuskegee |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=FDR Presidential Library & Museum |language=en-US |archive-date=11 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511144257/https://www.fdrlibrary.org/tuskegee |url-status=live }}</ref> After landing, she cheerfully announced, "Well, you can fly all right."{{sfn|Moye|2010|pp=52–4}}

The subsequent brouhaha over the First Lady's flight had such an impact it is often mistakenly cited as the start of the CPTP at Tuskegee, even though the program was already five months old. Eleanor Roosevelt used her position as a trustee of the [[Julius Rosenwald Fund]] to arrange a loan of $175,000 to help finance the building of [[Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site|Moton Field]].{{sfn|Moye|2010|pp=52–4}}