The U.S. Air Force said Sunday its training videos would continue to include segments about the Tuskegee Airmen, but educational materials were being modified to comply with the Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Initial reports over the weekend that information about the Tuskegee Airmen, as well as the Women Airforce Service Pilots, was being removed from curriculum was met by swift protest by members of Alabama’s federal delegation.
The Tuskegee Airmen, known as the “Red Tails” were the nation’s first Black military pilots who served in a segregated WWII unit and their all-Black 332nd Fighter Group had one of the lowest loss records of all the bomber escorts in the war.
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, whose district includes Tuskegee, responded to the decision to keep the Tuskegee Airmen in the Air Force’s training materials. Figures thanked Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary for helping to ensure the curriculum stayed in place.
“While the Air Force got to the appropriate resolution, we must not ignore how we got to this point in the first place. This was a self-induced misstep that resulted from the Trump Administration’s effort to systematically remove policies that were put in place to help level the playing field for historically marginalized people,” Figures said in a written statement Monday.
Sewell also said in a statement she was pleased that the Tuskegee Airmen will remain in the curriculum, but called out President Donald Trump for targeting diversity initiatives.
“We should all see the Trump Administration’s attacks on DEI for what they really are—an attempt to whitewash our history and devalue the contributions of African Americans,” Sewell said in a written statement Monday.
Multiple members of Alabama’s congressional delegation voiced objections before it was announced that the Tuskegee Airmen would remain in the Air Force curriculum.
“The Air Force removing the Tuskegee Airmen from training videos is pathetic, disgraceful, and disrespectful, not only to the brave fighter pilots who saved the U.S. in World War II, but to the City of Tuskegee and the entire State of Alabama,” Figures said in written statement Sunday.
Upon hearing reports about the Air Force’s actions, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. began making phone calls to military leaders getting to the bottom of it, according to her office.
On X Sunday, Britt said she was confident new U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would restore the information about the Tuskegee Airmen.
“As the Pentagon under (Hegseth’s) leadership restores its focus to lethality, there is no greater historical example of a highly skilled, valiant fighting force than the Tuskegee Airmen,” Britt said. “These role models will continue to inspire the next generation of courageous, selfless American service members.”
I have no doubt Secretary Hegseth will correct and get to the bottom of the malicious compliance we’ve seen in recent days. President Trump celebrated and honored the Tuskegee Airmen during his first term, promoting legendary aviator Charles McGee to Brigadier General and pinning…
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) January 26, 2025
Later, Hegseth responded to Britt, saying, “This has been immediately reversed.”
In a statement to CBS News on Sunday, Lt. Gen. Brian S. Robinson, Air Education and Training Command commander, said the materials that included videos is being revised because it included DEI material and emphasized that “no curriculum or content highlighting the honor and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen or Women Air Force Service Pilots has been removed from Basic Military Training.
“… “The revised training which focuses on the documented historic legacy and decorated valor with which these units and Airmen fought for our Nation in World War II and beyond will continue on 27 January,” Robinson told CBS. “The Air Force has not removed these Airmen’s incredible heritage from any training. Their personal examples of service, sacrifice and combat effectiveness are illustrative of the core values, character and warrior ethos necessary to be an Airman and Guardian.”
Earlier in the weekend, The Associated Press reported the Air Force had confirmed the courses with those videos had been removed and said it “will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency and in alignment with national security objectives.”
The problem may not be with the historical videos themselves, but that they were used in Air Force basic military training DEI coursework. However, the lack of clearer guidance has sent the Air Force and other agencies scrambling to take the broadest approach to what content is removed to make sure they are in compliance.
The Tuskegee Airmen flew P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang and other fighter aircraft to escort American bombers on dangerous missions over Germany. Before the fighter escorts began accompanying the slow and heavy U.S. bombers, losses were catastrophic due to getting dive-bombed and strafed by German aircraft.