2008 Woodie Awards
Members of Tuskegee Airmen visit campus
Chris Hippner
Issue date: 10/13/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On Friday, Sept. 29, the ERAU Diversity committee hosted an interactive presentation by Historian Steve Cowell. The title of the presentation was "The Tuskegee Airmen" and included former Tuskegee Airman, Col. Robert Ashby.
Hosted in the Davis Learning Center, the presentation was kicked off by Steve Cowell, often thought of as the "accidental historian" because of his purchase of the last operational Tuskegee aircraft. The aircraft originally was "C" model North American T-6. During its lifetime as a "C" model, the aircraft was used in the training of the Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen were America's first Afro-American military airmen. Based at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, the first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later in March 1942. At the time, the military had been divided along racial lines; therefore, Afro-Americans graduating were put into one bomber-escort unit, comprised of four squadrons. These four squadrons earned the distinction of being the only unit to never lose a bomber during combat.
The main feature of the presentation was the speaker, former Tuskegee Airman, Colonel Bob Ashby. He explained that the unit had to undergo rigorous training because, at the time, "it was thought that blacks didn't have the intelligence to operate aircraft".
The first unit, the 99th, graduated in 1942 and was deployed a year later to North Africa, where there was "nothing to shoot down, the Germans and Italians had already left". The unit was finally given a chance when they were relocated to Sicily and assigned to guard bomber squadrons.
The Tuskegee unit also changed aircrafts so many times, the mechanics often complained they could not learn to repair the different planes in such a short time. By the end of the war, and despite facing the many other hardships, the Tuskegee Airmen were the only fighter escort to boast that they never lost a bomber.
Ashby believes that the drive to prove themselves equals was a major factor behind their success. "You youngsters, you can accomplish what you want" he said, "just put forth the effort".
Ashby expressed that by applying effort, one can achieve anything. An example he gave was learning to drive a car. Having far more experience flying an airplane, Ashby only learned to drive a car after the Second World War. "It was a different time" he said of learning how to drive later in life. He learned the skill in a single afternoon.
Hosted in the Davis Learning Center, the presentation was kicked off by Steve Cowell, often thought of as the "accidental historian" because of his purchase of the last operational Tuskegee aircraft. The aircraft originally was "C" model North American T-6. During its lifetime as a "C" model, the aircraft was used in the training of the Tuskegee Airmen.
The Tuskegee Airmen were America's first Afro-American military airmen. Based at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, the first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later in March 1942. At the time, the military had been divided along racial lines; therefore, Afro-Americans graduating were put into one bomber-escort unit, comprised of four squadrons. These four squadrons earned the distinction of being the only unit to never lose a bomber during combat.
The main feature of the presentation was the speaker, former Tuskegee Airman, Colonel Bob Ashby. He explained that the unit had to undergo rigorous training because, at the time, "it was thought that blacks didn't have the intelligence to operate aircraft".
The first unit, the 99th, graduated in 1942 and was deployed a year later to North Africa, where there was "nothing to shoot down, the Germans and Italians had already left". The unit was finally given a chance when they were relocated to Sicily and assigned to guard bomber squadrons.
The Tuskegee unit also changed aircrafts so many times, the mechanics often complained they could not learn to repair the different planes in such a short time. By the end of the war, and despite facing the many other hardships, the Tuskegee Airmen were the only fighter escort to boast that they never lost a bomber.
Ashby believes that the drive to prove themselves equals was a major factor behind their success. "You youngsters, you can accomplish what you want" he said, "just put forth the effort".
Ashby expressed that by applying effort, one can achieve anything. An example he gave was learning to drive a car. Having far more experience flying an airplane, Ashby only learned to drive a car after the Second World War. "It was a different time" he said of learning how to drive later in life. He learned the skill in a single afternoon.
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