CAF Red Tail Squadron Publishes Complete Online Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster
Red Wing, Minn. – October 31, 2018 – The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Red Tail Squadron, America’s tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, announced today that they have published the first-ever complete, up-to-date and searchable Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster available to the public online. The database contains details of the 1,007 pilots to receive their wings through the Tuskegee Airmen program. Search the Pilot Roster on the CAF Red Tail Squadron website at redtail.org.
This landmark project was made possible by a collaboration of data from the Air Force Historical Research Agency and other Tuskegee Airmen historians. Information on Tuskegee Airmen pilots was collected and analyzed for accuracy by all three parties, resulting in the complete online, searchable Pilot Roster, a milestone for educating and inspiring people wanting to learn more about our nation’s first black military pilots.
“I think this searchable list, of all the African Americans who became pilots in American military service to the end of segregation in the Air Force in 1949, will be a magnificent tool for researchers as well as for all those who honor the Tuskegee Airmen, including not only their family members and friends, but also all of those who deeply appreciate the sacrifices they made for their country despite the obstacles they faced during their careers,” said Dr. Daniel Haulman, Chief, Organizational Histories Air Force Historical Research Agency and noted Tuskegee Airmen expert and author. “While most Tuskegee Airmen were not pilots, but personnel who supported them on the ground, and without whom the pilots would not have succeeded, the pilots were the best known of the Tuskegee Airmen. They risked their lives over enemy territory, and often engaged in combat with the enemy, often achieving aerial victories that need to be remembered and celebrated.”
The Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster includes the name, graduation date, rank at graduation, class and hometown of each pilot that completed flight training. Aerial victory credits are also listed for those pilots who shot down enemy aircraft. The database is searchable and sortable to allow for easy access to information about these important historical figures.
Both pilots and support personnel are considered Tuskegee Airmen, however the Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster is focused on the 1,007 Airmen that became pilots before the integration of the United States Air Force in 1949. Thousands more served in critical support roles.
“Our educational outreach program has purposefully grown in ways that give us greater opportunities to reach people with the inspirational message of the Tuskegee Airmen. This Pilot Roster is a groundbreaking effort to create an easily accessible way to identify documented Tuskegee Airmen pilots, and expand our important outreach,” said Doug Rozendaal, CAF Red Tail Squadron leader. “This is a significant addition to our arsenal of online tools that allow educators, students and history enthusiasts to find accurate and in-depth information about this often overlooked piece of American history, and honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen in a new and personal way.”
Search the Pilot Roster and learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen at redtail.org.
About the CAF Red Tail Squadron
The CAF Red Tail Squadron is committed to telling the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military pilots and their support personnel. RISE ABOVE: Red Tail, their three-fold outreach program, includes an airworthy P-51C Mustang and the RISE ABOVE Traveling Exhibit mobile theater. These two exciting and entertaining vehicles tour the country year round with stops at airshows, schools, museums and community events. In addition, the group curates and provides extensive educational resources for students, teachers, youth leaders and anyone looking to learn more and be inspired by these remarkable American trailblazers. The CAF Red Tail Squadron is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization part of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), a non-military group that restores and flies combat aircraft to remember the lessons learned from the defining moments in American military aviation history. Learn more at redtail.org.
