Black Colleges Matter

Historically Black Colleges and the U.S. Military

- Lango Deen

According to Inside Higher Ed’s “Black Colleges Matter,” HBCUs enroll approximately 9 percent of all black undergraduates in higher education today, including almost 11 percent of all black students attending bachelor’s degree-granting institutions.

“They are able to produce such results because of their explicit commitment to educating black students in nurturing and supportive environments,” said C. Rob Shorette II, a former HBCU presidential aide, and a graduate of Florida A&M University.

Tuskegee University: Originator and producer of the famous "Tuskegee Airmen," in partnership with the U.S. Army Air Corps

Long before Prairie View A&M became the first historically Black college to host the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Program in 1968, the Tuskegee airmen laid down the first milestones toward integration of the U.S. military under President Harry Truman in 1948.

A group of Black combat pilots during World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen served as military aviators in the U.S. armed forces. The 996 pilots and 15,000 ground personnel in black units came from New York City, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit. Each one possessed a strong personal desire to serve the United States of America.

The black airmen, who became single-engine or multiengine pilots, were trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee Alabama. The first aviation cadet class began in July 1941 and completed training nine months later.

From 1942 through 1946, nine hundred and ninety two pilots graduated at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF), receiving commissions and pilot wings. Black navigators, bombardiers, and gunnery crews were trained at selected military bases elsewhere in the United States. Mechanics were trained at Chanute Air Base in Illinois until facilities were in place at TAAF.