The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. The 99th Pursuit Squadron later the 99th Fighter Squadron was the first black flying squadron, and the first to deploy overseas to North Africa in April , and later to Sicily and other parts of Italy.
The nd Fighter Group , which originally included the th, st and nd Fighter Squadrons, was the first black flying group. It deployed to Italy in early In June , the nd Fighter Group began flying heavy bomber escort missions and, in July , with the addition of the 99th Fighter Squadron, it had four fighter squadrons.
The nd Fighter Group and its th, st and nd Fighter Squadrons were equipped for initial combat missions with Bell P Airacobras March , later with Republic P Thunderbolts JuneโJuly and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P Mustang July When the pilots of the nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their Ps red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined. The red markings that distinguished the Tuskegee Airmen included red bands on the noses of Ps as well as a red empennage ; the PB, C and D Mustangs flew with similar color schemes, with red propeller spinners, yellow wing bands and all-red tail surfaces.
The Tuskegee Airmen were subjected to discrimination, both within and outside of the army. In , African-American men had tried to become aerial observers but were rejected. Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.
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.
