Benjamin O. Davis Jr. commands Tuskegee's 99th Pursuit Squadron

Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., son of the Army's first Black general, took command of the 99th Pursuit Squadron in 1942 and later the 332nd Fighter Group. When senior white officers filed a report in 1943 claiming Black pilots performed poorly, Davis testified before the War Department and refuted the claims with mission data, successfully preventing the disbanding of the Tuskegee program. His advocacy secured the future of Black military aviation.