Editing Tuskegee Airmen (section)

===Combat assignment===
[[File:Tuskegee Airmen - Circa May 1942 to Aug 1943.jpg|thumb|left|Eight Tuskegee Airmen in front of a [[Curtiss P-40|P-40]] fighter aircraft]]
The 99th was finally considered ready for combat duty by April 1943. It shipped out of Tuskegee on 2 April, bound for North Africa, where it joined the 33rd Fighter Group and its commander, Colonel [[William Momyer|William W. Momyer]]. Given little guidance from battle-experienced pilots, the 99th's first combat mission was to attack the small strategic volcanic island of [[Pantelleria]], code name [[Operation Corkscrew]], in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] to clear the sea lanes for the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] in July 1943. The air assault on the island began 30 May 1943. The 99th flew its first combat mission on 2 June.<ref>[http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15470 "Davis Leads the 99th into Combat"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005031011/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15470 |date=5 October 2013}}, ''The National Museum of the United States Air Force''; retrieved 27 July 2012.</ref> The surrender of the garrison of 11,121 Italians and 78 Germans<ref>Wolk, Herman S. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121120161113/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2002/June%202002/0602pantelleria.aspx "Pantelleria, 1943"]}}, airforce-magazine.com, June 2002; retrieved 12 February 2012.</ref> due to air attack was the first of its kind.<ref>Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; Captain F.C. Flynn (R.N.); Major-General H.L. Davies and Group Captain T.P. Gleave. "The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume V: The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and The Campaign in mainland Italy 3 September 1943 to 31 March 1944", ''History of the Second World War'' (United Kingdom Military Series). Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press, 2004, First edition, 1973 (HMSO); p. 49. {{ISBN|1845740696}}.</ref>

The 99th then moved on to Sicily and received a [[Distinguished Unit Citation]] (DUC) for its performance in combat.<ref name=dist/>
[[File:Col Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr.jpg|thumb|upright|Col. [[Benjamin O. Davis Jr.]], commander of the Tuskegee Airmen 332nd Fighter Group, in front of his [[P-47 Thunderbolt]] in Sicily]]
[[File:James DanielChappie.jpg|thumbnail|upright|General [[Daniel "Chappie" James Jr.]], the first African American four-star general in the United States Armed Forces, was a Tuskegee Airman lieutenant and instructor ]]
[[File:Alix Pasquet.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Tuskegee airman Alix Pasquet, date unknown.]]

By the end of February 1944, the all-black [[332nd Fighter Group]] had been sent overseas with three fighter squadrons: The [[100th Fighter Squadron|100th]], [[301st Fighter Squadron|301st]] and [[302nd Fighter Squadron (United States)|302nd]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195963/escort-excellence/|title=Escort Excellence|website=National Museum of the US Air Force|language=en-US|access-date=31 December 2018|archive-date=31 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231194220/https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195963/escort-excellence/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Under the command of Colonel Davis, the squadrons were moved to mainland Italy, where the 99th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the group on 1 May 1944, joined them on 6 June at [[Ramitelli Airfield]], nine kilometers south-southeast of the small city of [[Campomarino]], on the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic coast]]. From Ramitelli, the 332nd Fighter Group escorted [[Fifteenth Air Force]] heavy strategic bombing raids into Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Germany.<ref name="332d"/>

Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332nd earned an impressive combat record. The Allies called these airmen "Red Tails" or "Red-Tail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson unit identification marking predominantly applied on the tail section of the unit's aircraft.<ref name="Rice">Rice, Markus. [http://logicalthinker2.tripod.com/Tuskegeeaircraft.html "The Men and Their Airplanes: The Fighters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170614233432/http://logicalthinker2.tripod.com/Tuskegeeaircraft.html |date=14 June 2017 }}, ''Tuskegee Airmen'' via logicalthinker2.tripod.com, 1 March 2000.</ref>

A B-25 bomb group, the [[477th Fighter Group|477th Bombardment Group]], was forming in the U.S. but was not able to complete its training in time to see action. The 99th Fighter Squadron after its return to the United States became part of the 477th, redesignated the 477th Composite Group.<ref name="Rice"/>

====Active air units====
[[File:Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group.jpg|thumb|left|Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group at [[Ramitelli Airfield]], [[Italy]]; from left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgan, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelson Jr., Captain [[Andrew D. Turner]], and Lt. [[Clarence D. Lester|Clarence P. Lester]]]]
The only black air units that saw combat during the war were the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group. The dive-bombing and strafing missions under Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr. were considered to be highly successful.<ref name=shsu>[http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/AfrAmer.html "Black Americans in Defense of Our Nation."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607225702/http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/AfrAmer.html |date=7 June 2011}} ''Sam Houston State University''; retrieved 11 June 2011.</ref><ref name=sd>[http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/african_american_exhibit/military-inspirations.php "Celebrating African Americans in Aviation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605144628/http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/african_american_exhibit/military-inspirations.php |date=5 June 2011 }}, ''San Diego Air & Space Museum''; retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref>

In May 1942, the 99th Pursuit Squadron was renamed the 99th Fighter Squadron. It earned three [[Distinguished Unit Citation#Army and Air Force|Distinguished Unit Citations]] (DUC) during World War II. The DUCs were for operations over Sicily from 30 May – 11 June 1943, Monastery Hill near [[Battle of Monte Cassino|Cassino]] from 12 to 14 May 1944, and for successfully fighting off German jet aircraft on 24 March 1945. The mission was the longest bomber escort mission of the Fifteenth Air Force throughout the war.<ref name=dist>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110722181355/http://www.randolph.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5896 "99th Flying Training Squadron History."] ''United States Air Force''; retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref><ref name=jet>[http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=15471&page=2 "Escort Excellence"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203141314/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=15471&page=2 |date=3 December 2013}}, nationalmuseum.af.mil; retrieved 12 June 2011.</ref> The 332nd flew missions in Sicily, [[Anzio]], Normandy, the [[Rhineland]], the [[Po Valley]] and Rome-Arno and others. Pilots of the 99th once set a record for destroying five enemy aircraft in under four minutes.<ref name=shsu/>

The Tuskegee Airmen shot down three German jets in a single day.<ref name=NMUSAF>[http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15471 "Escort Excellence"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309081737/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15471 |date=9 March 2012}}, nationalmuseum.af.mil; retrieved 27 July 2012.</ref> On 24 March 1945, 43 P-51 Mustangs led by Colonel Benjamin O. Davis escorted B-17 bombers over {{convert|1600|mi|km}} into Germany and back. The bombers' target, a massive Daimler-Benz tank factory in Berlin, was heavily defended by ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft, including propeller-driven [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190|Fw 190s]], [[Messerschmitt Me 163|Me 163 "Komet"]] rocket-powered fighters, and 25 of the much more formidable [[Messerschmitt Me 262|Me 262s]], history's first operational jet fighter. Pilots Charles Brantley, Earl Lane and [[Roscoe Brown]] all shot down German jets over Berlin that day.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} For the mission, the 332nd Fighter Group earned a Distinguished Unit Citation.<ref name="332d">[http://www.everworld.com/tuskegee/332d_fighter_squadron.htm "332d Fighter Squadron"], everworld.com; retrieved 9 July 2012. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025100903/http://www.everworld.com/tuskegee/332d_fighter_squadron.htm |date=25 October 2012 }}</ref>

Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group earned 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Their missions took them over Italy and enemy-occupied parts of central and southern Europe. Their operational aircraft were, in succession: [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk]], [[Bell P-39 Airacobra]], [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]] and [[North American P-51 Mustang]] fighter aircraft.<ref name=shsu/>