World War II The United States entered World War II with a military that was segregated by race and remained segregated until 1948.
War Department planners generally placed White and African-American Army personnel in separate units during World War II. The
332d Fighter Group was constituted on 4 July 1942, and activated on 13 October, predominantly manned with African-American personnel. Consisted of the
100th,
301st and
302d Fighter Squadrons at
Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama. Trained with
Bell P-39 Airacobra and
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft for an extended period of time as the Army Air Forces was reluctant to deploy African-American fighter pilots to an overseas combat theater. The 100th Fighter Squadron predates the 332d Fighter Group, being formed on 19 February 1942. The 100th carried out advanced fighter training of graduates of the Tuskegee Institute primary and basic flight training programs for African-American flight cadets at nearby
Moton Field. The first class (42-C) of twelve cadets and one student officer, Captain
Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who served as Commandant of Cadets, began training on 19 July 1941. On March 6, 1942, this class graduated with Davis and five of the original twelve cadets, 2Lt.
Lemuel R. Custis, 2Lt.
Charles DeBow, 2Lt.
George S. Roberts, and 2Lt.
Mac Ross. "Spanky" Roberts was actually the first cadet to receive a diploma and wings during the ceremony. He went on throughout the time of combat operations of the
99th Fighter Squadron and later when that squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group (which already consisted of three squadrons), to be the Deputy Commanding Officer and at times when Colonel Davis was away, he served as the Group Commander. , Italy. From left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgran, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelron Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. After difficulty in establishing a core of African American pilots and ground crews and providing for training at Tuskegee AAF and
First Air Force stations in Michigan, by April 1943, the 332d Fighter Group deployed to
Twelfth Air Force in the
Mediterranean theater. The group's first combat assignment involved attacking enemy units on the strategic volcanic island of
Pantelleria in the
Mediterranean Sea, to clear the sea lanes for the
Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The air assault on the island began on 30 May 1943. The assignment to a predominately ground attack role prevented the 99th from engaging in air-to-air combat. In the meantime the 99th received a
Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in combat on Sicily. Shortly after a Washington hearing on the feasibility of continuing to use African American pilots, three new fighter squadrons graduated from training at Tuskegee: the 100th, 301st and 302nd. The units then embarked for Africa and were combined to form the all-Black 332d Fighter Group. They began operations with
Twelfth Air Force on 5 February. They used P-39s to escort convoys, protect harbors, and fly armed reconnaissance missions, converted to
Republic P-47 Thunderbolts during April–May, and changed to
North American P-51 Mustangs in June. The 99th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the group on 1 May 1944, joined them on 6 June at
Ramitelli Airfield, in the small city of
Campomarino, on the
Adriatic coast. From Ramitelli, the 332d Fighter Group escorted
Fifteenth Air Force heavy strategic bombing raids into Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Germany from May 1944 to April 1945. The bombers struck objectives such as oil refineries, factories, airfields, and
marshaling yards in
Italy, France, Germany, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Austria,
Hungary,
Yugoslavia,
Romania, Bulgaria, and
Greece. They also made successful strafing attacks on airdromes, railroads, highways, bridges, river traffic, troop concentrations, radar facilities, power stations, and other targets. The 332d also flew escort missions in support of the repatriation of Americans from Romania (
Operation Reunion) and Yugoslavia (
Operation Halyard) to Italy. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332d earned an impressive combat record. The Allies called these airmen "Red Tails" or "Red-Tail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson paint prominently visible on the tail section of the unit's aircraft. , commander of the Tuskegee Airmen 332d Fighter Group, in front of his P-47 Thunderbolt in Sicily The Tuskegee Airmen initially were equipped with Curtiss P-40F and L model Warhawks (99th Squadron only), briefly with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly identified, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944). Upon examination of German records,
JG 7 records, just four Me 262s were lost and all of the pilots survived. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332d earned an impressive combat record. The Allies called these airmen "Redtails" or "Redtail Angels," because of the distinctive crimson paint applied on the vertical stabilizers of the unit's aircraft. With the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945, the 332d was reassigned to the
305th Bombardment Wing, to prepare for a move to the
Pacific Theater and engage in combat against Japan. With the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the war, this became unnecessary and the 332d returned to the United States and was assigned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, where it inactivated on 19 October 1945.
Postwar era The unit was activated again in 1947 at
Lockbourne Army Air Base as operational component of
332d Fighter Wing, with Col. Davis in command. The group was finally inactivated in 1949 as part of the Air Force plan to achieve racial integration.
Air Expeditionary Group In 1998, the
332d Air Expeditionary Group, "The Tip of the Spear", was activated at
Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait in November 1998, replacing the 4406th Operations Group (Provisional) which was formed in 1996. The 332d Group evolved and grew to reflect the Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF) concept of a consolidated force in a forward location. The package previously included
McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagles and Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs. The mission of the 332d was supporting Joint Task Force – Southwest Asia, which monitored a no-fly zone mission dubbed
Operation Southern Watch. Active duty, Guard and Reserve A-10 and F-16 fighter units, along with support individuals, rotated in and out, ensuring Iraqi aircraft don't fly below the 32d parallel. At the Al Jaber AFB the 332 ELS Commander and 10 personnel are on a one-year tour; all others (1190 personnel) rotate every 90 days. That mix of aircraft, including
HH-60 rescue helicopters, gave the 332d the ability to conduct any
Operation Southern Watch mission. The group's personnel turned over almost completely every 120 days with a population of 1,400 people constantly rotating, a need existed for continuity to guide the base and its mission. The US compound at Al Jaber was a sandy "fortress" of less than a mile's circumference. Most people lived in dorms—airmen doing 12-month rotations had their own rooms. Beginning in 2001, after
Al Qaeda's attack on 9/11, the 332d Air Expeditionary Group participated in
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The group's F-15Es, F-16s, and later A-10s played a critical role in the defeat of Al Qaeda and the Taliban and later provided key air support for the provisional government in Afghanistan. Significantly, the F-15Es and F-16s saved a team of US Army soldiers, US Navy SEALS and US Air Force Combat Controllers and PJ pinned down after the helicopter in which they were flying was disabled by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) in the mountains of Afghanistan at Takur Ghar on what is now known as "
Roberts' Ridge". The fighters employed both 20mm cannon and GBU-12 laser guided bombs on Al Qaeda militants as they proceeded up the mountain in an effort to capture or kill the crashed Americans, saving over 2 dozen American lives. Later, the unit was expanded to a wing, with the 332d Air Expeditionary Group operating as the operational component of the
332d Air Expeditionary Wing after the initiation of
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). It was moved to
Tallil Air Base, Iraq, in support of OIF, then moving to
Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2004. During the height of operations, the 332d Wing contained nine groups—including four geographically separated groups at
Ali Air Base,
Sather Air Base,
Al Asad Air Base, and
Kirkuk Air Base — as well as numerous detachments and operating locations scattered throughout Iraq. The wing had as many as four fighter squadrons, an airlift squadron, a helicopter combat search and rescue squadron, two aerial reconnaissance squadrons and an air control squadron. During the drawdown of forces from Iraq, the 332d Wing provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, combat search and rescue, armed overwatch and close air support to one of the largest logistics movements since World War II. In support of the reposture of U.S. forces, the wing continued to support U.S. Forces-Iraq after forward deploying to an undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia in November 2011 so
Joint Base Balad could be returned to the government of Iraq. And as the last U.S. convoy left Iraq on 18 December 2011, it was the 332d AEW's F-16s and MQ-1B Predators in the skies providing overhead watch. The 332d Air Expeditionary Group was reactivated on 16 November 2014 at
Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait. Colonel Mike Kocheski assumed command of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, redesignated from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group, during an activation ceremony on May 19, 2015. ==Lineage==