Achievements come in spite of difficulties

  • Published
  • By 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing
  • History Office
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNEWS) --  By now, many Airmen here know the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing descended from the famous Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group. Most people also know about the challenges the 332nd Airmen faced, not only from the enemy, but from their own country and even their own service.

Many books and articles have documented their struggle to fly and fight for their country. But one thing that really helps to define the Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd is their enviable combat record.

After advanced training in P-39 Airacobras and P-40 Warhawks, first at Tuskegee, Ala., and later at Selfridge Field, Mich., the 332d FG, comprising the 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons, shipped out to Europe in 1944, arriving at Montecorvino, Italy on Feb. 3. Just two days after arrival, they began operations flying P-39s to escort convoys, protect harbors and conduct armed reconnaissance missions. In May 1944, the 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the group. Until the end of the war, all of the black fighter squadrons served in the 332nd Fighter Group.

The P-39, while considered a capable ground attack aircraft, became obsolete by 1944. It could not reach the altitudes required to compete with German Luftwaffe fighters that were used to intercept American B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers. With a top speed of 376 mph, the P-39 compared poorly to the German ME 109G, whose top speed was 426 mph. The ME 109G often participated in attacks on bomber formations in 1944. In fact, most theater commanders would no longer use P-39s because of their poor performance against enemy aircraft, especially in the European theater, and production of the P-39 ended in August 1944.

However, as the need for bomber escort became more urgent, the group converted to the more capable, but unfamiliar P-47 Thunderbolt in May 1944. They later upgraded to the top-of-the-line P-51C Mustang. Unlike the P-39, the Mustang, with a maximum speed of 437 mph, could easily match any enemy piston-engine aircraft and remained in service well after the end of World War II.

Unfortunately, the enemy had more than just piston-engine fighters. German scientists had been developing advanced weapons for years, including jet- and rocket-powered fighters specifically designed to shoot down American and British bombers. In July 1944, they began using these top secret aircraft -- the ME 262 Schwalbe powered by two turbojet engines, and the rocket powered ME 163B Komet.

The ME 262 had a top speed of 540 mph and took a heavy toll on bomber formations during the nine months between the time it entered service and the end of the war. But the pilots of the 332nd developed tactics to prevent the new jets from destroying "their" bombers. They found that the P-51 could recover from a dive faster than the ME 262 and was generally more maneuverable.

Exploiting the weaknesses of the German aircraft allowed the fighters to destroy three of these "superior" ME-262 aircraft during the war. Plus, the pilots had a strict discipline -- no pilot was allowed to leave the bombers unprotected to chase enemy aircraft. While doing this, the very bombers they escorted destroyed hundreds more on the ground.

Besides learning to fly new types of fighters and facing new weapons systems, the men of the 332nd moved four times before the war ended. Each time they moved their aircraft, personal gear, maintenance shops and quarters and set up operations at the new, usually totally undeveloped, location.

They first moved to Capodichino in April 1944, then to Ramitelli the following month. They remained at Ramitelli for nearly a year, moving to Cattolica in May of 1945, flying the last of their escort missions from there. They moved to Lucera in July 1945, in preparation for their return to the United States, with the expectation of reforming for combat in the Pacific. The end of the war, however, also spelled the end of the 332nd FG, and the unit was inactivated in October 1945.

The 332nd fought hard to win the respect they deserved, then fought hard to win the war, earning a unique place in history in spite of the incredible challenges they faced. For that reason, the legend of the 332nd lives on as an active combat unit, with its own unique challenges to overcome.