The Air Force's Black Pilot State of the Union

This is an excerpt from the Chapter entitled "Culture Change vs. Recruiting":

“‘Tuskegee Top Gun' Lt. Col. James Harvey

Harvey: They sent me to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, for 30 days of basic training, and when I finished my basic training, they sent me to …. Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Army Air Corps of engineers, driving bulldozers, graders, carry alls. My mission was to go into the jungles in the Pacific, doze out an area, build an airfield for aircraft to land on. And we used to go out and practice every day. And I says no, this isn't for me. So, I applied for cadet training, was accepted, and there were ten of us, nine whites and myself. We took the exam. Two of us passed. Then from there, I went to Keesler field for 30 days of basic training and from there to Tuskegee, and then the rest is history.  

Interviewer: Folks can tell by your hat that you did something very interesting in 1949, right? That you were not only at the first Top Gun, you won the first Top Gun.

Harvey: Correct.

Interviewer: Tell us about it, okay?

Harvey: I'd say January of ‘49, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force sent out a directive to all the fighter groups in the United States. That they were to participate in gunnery competition or weapons competition between each squadron and in each group. And they were to pick their three high scorers as primary members and an alternate member to represent their group at the first-ever Top Gun weapons meet to be held at Las Vegas Air Force Base Nevada. And today, it's known as Nellis. Well, the 332nd, which is us, we had scorers because we had been to Eglin a month prior. So based on our scores, Captain Temple of the 300th, first lieutenant Harry Stewart of the 100th, and myself of the 99th were chosen as primary members and first lieutenant Albert Alexander of the 99th as an alternate member. So that was our team. And before we left Lockeborn heading to Las Vegas Air Force Base, we met with Colonel Davis. He was the group commander. And his departing remark was if you don't win, don't come back. So off we went with those words of encouragement.

Interviewer: All right, so let's get out to Top Gun. What does the competition consist of?

Harvey: The competition for that meet consisted of aerial gunnery at 20,000 feet, aerial gunnery at 12,000 feet, dive-bombing, skip bombing, rocket firing, and panel strafing. Now skip bombing; you come in very low to the ground, your propeller clearing the ground by about a foot. And when you release your bombs, you're so low they don't have a chance to nose over yet, so they hit flat and skip through the target.

Interviewer: And so, as this unfolded, you guys were pretty much in the lead the whole time, right?

Harvey: We lead from start to finish.

Interviewer: What are you thinking as this is happening?

Harvey: This is the way it's supposed to be.

Interviewer: Were the other crews surprised that you were winning so easily?

Harvey: Yes, they didn't care for it. I'll tell you why. This is my estimation. Just before the last event, which was panel strafing, Uh, well, let me back up. They're going to issue two trophies—one for high individual and one for high group. Well, Captain Temple of our team was high individual. Through every event he was high individual. And we as a team through every event, a high group. So, we had one more mission to go, which was panel strafing. There was a guy in a P-51 outfit that was close behind Temple for high individual. Now, this is my thinking. One more event to go. They didn't want to see us take everything. They wanted to get something out of this. Because we had a lock on the meet. So, the only thing left is high individual. So, one of the rules of the meet was if you have to abort, your team members take off, their score is counted, yours is zero. We had a guy in a fifty-one outfit who was close behind Temple. He had to abort. They gave him another airplane. Right there, they broke the rules. His score was so high. I think they gave him extra bullets for the event. Anyway, he aced Temple out of high place for high individual. But we won the meet. However, we were never recognized as the winner. The Air Force Association puts out a magazine every month, but once a year, they put on an almanac. And in that almanac are the winners of each of the weapons meets from 1949 through present day. Today it's called Red Flag. Anyway, each year when that almanac came out, the winner of the 1949 weapons meet was listed as unknown, unknown, unknown. Finally, in 1995, our group commander Colonel Campbell called Lieutenant Stewart and asked him if he had the information on the weapons meet. And he said no, he didn't have it; maybe I did. He called me, and I told him I didn't have it. Maybe he could find it at Wright-Patt. No, I'm sorry Nellis. So, he went to Nellis, and he found what he was looking for, and he presented it to the Air Force. And as of April of 1995, it shows the 332nd as the winner of the 1949 weapons meet. Forty-six years they knew who won, but they just didn't want to recognize us. So, the only reason we were recognized was we had to submit the paperwork to Air Force.

Interviewer: Even as late as 1995, they weren't admitting it, but now they do.

Harvey: Now they do. It's on display well; let me back up again. We got a big three-foot-high solid silver trophy. Somehow that got lost. We have a lady in Atlanta. Her name is Zellie Orr. She is a historian. She made it her mission to find it. She found it in five days at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum storage area. So, she went to Wright Patt. She saw the trophy, and she asked, why isn't this on display? They said we had a lot of items in. We can't display everything, and this item will never be on display. Well, it is on display. Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum. Right now. You go into the door, out of the gift shop area, if you look about a hundred and thirty or forty degrees to your right, you can see it. But it is on display.

Interviewer: It's finally on display.

Harvey: Fifty-five years in hiding.” (American Veterans Center, 2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqA1ihi_0MU

I think James Harvey’s example and the examples of Goldfein and Jumper are important historical precedents that should be a part of the re-examination of what is needed to become a fighter pilot and ultimately make it to the Air Force’s upper echelons. Did every white Air Force fighter pilot or four-star general graduate in the top third of their academic class? The argument being made today is that African Americans must be the best and brightest of their group in society, that a certain academic caliber of black person is needed to become a fighter pilot.

I believe this fallacious premise has been perpetuated by the Air Force to keep it from taking on the harder work of overhauling pilot training processes that are not conducive to African American men and women. Sadly, the Air Force’s premise flies in the face of its own history, the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, men like James Harvey.