PUBLIC LAW 105-355 —NOV. 6, 1998
112 STAT. 3255
(4) In 1941 the United States Army Air Corps awarded
a contract to Tuskegee Institute to operate a primary flight
school at Moton Field. Tuskegee Institute (now known as
Tuskegee University) chose an African-American contractor
who designed and constructed Moton Field, with the assistance
of its faculty and students, as the site for its military pilot
training program. The field was named for the school's second
president, Robert Russa Moton. Consequently, Tuskegee
Institute was one of a very few American institutions (and
the only African-American institution) to own, develop, and
control facilities for military flight instruction.
(5) Moton Field, also known as the Primary Flying Field
or Airport Number 2, was the only primary flight training
facility for African-American pilot candidates in the United
States Army Air Corps during World War II. The facility
symbolizes the entrance of African-American pilots into the
United States Army Air Corps, although on the basis of a
policy of segregation that was mandated by the military and
institutionalized in the South. The facility also symbolizes the
singular role of Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University) in
providing leadership as well as economic and educational
resources to make that entry possible.
(6) The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American
soldiers to complete their training successfully and to enter
the United States Army Air Corps. Almost 1,000 aviators were
trained as America's first African-American military pilots. In
addition, more than 10,000 military and civilian African-American men and women served as flight instructors, officers,
bombardiers, navigators, radio technicians, mechanics, air traf-
fic controllers, parachute riggers, electrical and communications
specialists, medical professionals, laboratory assistants, cooks,
musicians, supply, firefighting, and transportation personnel.
(7) Although military leaders were hesitant to use the
Tuskegee Airmen in combat, the Airmen eventually saw considerable action in North Africa and Europe. Acceptance from
United States Army Air Corps units came slowly, but their
courageous and, in many cases, heroic performance earned
them increased combat opportunities and respect.
(8) The successes of the Tuskegee Airmen proved to the
American public that African-Americans, when given the opportunity, could become effective military leaders and pilots. This
helped pave the way for desegregation of the military, beginning
with President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 in
1948. The Tuskegee Airmen's success also helped set the stage
for civil rights advocates to continue the struggle to end racial
discrimination during the civil rights movement of the 1950's
and 1960's.
(9) The story of the Tuskegee Airmen also reflects the
struggle of African-Americans to achieve equal rights, not only
through legal attacks on the system of segregation, but also
through the techniques of nonviolent direct action. The members of the 477th Bombardment Group, who staged a nonviolent
demonstration to desegregate the officer's club at Freeman
Field, Indiana, helped set the pattern for direct action protests
popularized by civil rights activists in later decades.
(b) PURPOSES. —The purposes of this title are the following:
Robert Russa
Moton.
Harry S.
Truman.
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