Air Force refuses to include WWII’s Tuskegee Airmen, female pilots in its curriculum

The U.S. Air Force has decided to stop teaching recruits about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of more than 15,000 Black pilots, mechanics, and cooks who served in a segregated Army during World War II. The course instruction about the pilots, as well as information about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), has been removed from basic training curriculum. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black soldiers to fly during World War II and flew more than 15,000 sorties, destroying over 100 German aircraft. President Donald Trump ordered the halt of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DEI) programs, which may have contributed to this decision. The success of the Tuskegee Airmen led President Harry Truman to desegregate the nation’s armed forces in 1948. The WASPs were a paramilitary aviation organization of female pilots who flew during World War II at 126 bases across the nation, towing targets for gunnery training and working as instructors. Thirty-eight of them died in the line of duty, 11 during training and 27 during missions. This move by the Air Force has sparked controversy and questions about the importance of diversity and inclusion in military training.