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Library > Fact Sheets > 99th Flying Training Squadron History
99th Flying Training Squadron History
Posted 12/12/2006
Printable Fact Sheet
Constituted as the 99th Pursuit Squadron on 19 March 1941, and activated on 22 March 1941, the unit was redesignated as the 99th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942. Known as the "Tuskegee Airmen," the squadron was the first all-black unit in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The unit received its initial training at Tuskegee, Alabama and eventually flew aircraft such as the P-39, P-40, P-47, and P-51. Originally intended to provide air defense operations for Liberia, the 99th was instead sent to the Mediterranean Theater where it began operations on 2 June 1943. The 99th was assigned to the Twelfth Air Force, flying P-40s. Its mission was to assist in the reduction of enemy fortifications on Pantellaria Island and in Tunisia. For its performance in those operations, the 99th shared the Distinguished Unit Citation with the 324th Fighter Group.
During the later part of 1943, the squadron carried out a variety of missions in support of the invasion of Sicily and Italy. By October 1944, the unit was in Italy protecting allied shipping and providing close air support to the U.S. 5th Army in its assaults on Foggia and Anzio. The 99th received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for its close air support missions in support of the French and Polish Armies while they attacked Monastery Hill near Cassino. Transferring to the Fifteenth Air Force, the squadron undertook a new mission of escorting heavy bombers.
The 99th fought air battles over Rumania, Southern France, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia and Greece. During one especially long and dangerous mission on 24 March 1944, the squadron successfully challenged German jet aircraft. The 99th received its third Distinguished Unit Citation for this operation. Following the War, the unit moved to Godman Field, Kentucky and later to Lockbourne Air Force Base (AFB), Ohio, were it flew training missions until it inactivation on 1 July 1949.
On 1 June 1988, in a formal ceremony, the 99th Fighter Squadron was activated as the 99th Training Squadron. Flying the supersonic T -38 aircraft, the mission of the squadron was to provide advanced flying training to budding air warriors. Since its activation as a flying training squadron, the 99th graduated over 500 T -38 pilots for the USAF and its allies. Coinciding with the closing of Williams AFB, AZ, the squadron moved to Randolph AFB, TX under the 12th Flying Training Wing on 14 May 1993.
Flying the newest jet trainer in the Air Force inventory, the T -I A Jayhawk, the 99th Flying Training Squadron is responsible for the initial qualification and requalification of T-1A instructor pilots for Air Education and Training Command's Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training system and the training of navigators in visual low-level airdrop and air refueling procedures. The 99th Flying Training Squadron continues to build upon its rich heritage as an air combat unit as it helps-train the pilots of the world's most respected air and space force.
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