99th Flying Training Squadron

99th Flying Training Squadron
Squadron T-1A Jayhawk
Active	1941–1949; 1988–1993; 1993–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Pilot Training
Part of	Air Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQ	Randolph Air Force Base
Engagements	North African Campaign; Operation Husky; Operation Avalanche; Italian Campaign
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Notable commanders	Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Insignia
99th Flying Training Squadron emblem (approved 24 June 1944)

The 99th Flying Training Squadron flies Raytheon T-1 Jayhawks and they are in the process of painting the tops of the tails of their aircraft red, in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen the "Red Tails".

The 99th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 12th Flying Training Wing based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron was formed during World War II as the first flying unit for African Americans. Known as the Tuskegee Airmen the unit served with distinction in the European Theater of Operations. Following the war it served as a flight training unit for four years in the 1940s until its inactivation. It was re-activated in 1988 to once again fill a flight training role.

The 99th was originally formed as the Army Air Forces' first African American fighter squadron, then known the 99th Pursuit Squadron. The personnel received their initial flight training at Tuskegee, Alabama earning them the nickname Tuskegee Airmen. The squadron was originally tentatively scheduled to fly air defense over Liberia but was diverted to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

Considered ready for combat duty, the 99th was transported to Casablanca, Morocco, on the USS Mariposa' and participated in the North African campaign. From Morocco they traveled by train to Oujda then to Tunis, the location from which they operated against the Luftwaffe. Flyers and ground crew alike were isolated in their initial command, the 33d Fighter Group by the racial segregation practices of the Army and group commander Colonel William Momyer. The flight crews were handicapped by being left with little guidance from battle-experienced pilots except for a week spent with Colonel Philip Cochran. The 99th's first combat mission was to attack the small, but strategic, volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea, in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. On Friday July 2, 1943, Lieutenant Charles B. Hall of Brazil, Indiana, shot down the first enemy plane for the group. "It is probably the first time in history that a Negro in a pursuit plane has shot down an enemy in aerial combat." The 99th moved to Sicily where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in combat.

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Wikipedia