Helicopter squadron flies Tuskegee cadets

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Phyllis Keith
  • Kirtland Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Two helicopters from the 23rd Flying Training Squadron at Fort Rucker, Alabama, flew to Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, April 6, to give orientation flights on TH-UH1 Hueys to 38 cadets and three cadre assigned to Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 015, located at the university.

The lead pilot and current operations flight commander for the 23rd FTS, Capt. Joseph "Ski" Szeniawski, said he came up with the idea while driving through Tuskegee on his way to Atlanta. He said he wanted find a way to honor the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and to recognize their sacrifices.

"The orientation flights were two and a half months in the making," Szeniawski said. "We had to drive to the university, do a ground survey of the field, and then do paperwork to get the landing site approved."

Before the cadets took to the air, they met at Armstrong Science Hall on campus where the assistant director of operations with the 23rd FTS, Maj. Destry Hill, briefed them on the squadron's Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training-Helicopter program, or SUPT-H.

Hill told the cadets the 23rd FTS missions, what pilot training is all about, and what to expect as an active duty aircrew member.

The commander of AFROTC Det. 015, Lt. Col. Edwin McCain, said the majority of his cadets were majoring in STEM related fields (science, technology, engineering and math). McCain said the detachment upholds a legacy with extreme historical significance.

"The all-black squadrons of Tuskegee Airmen were highly decorated World War II combat veterans and forerunners of the modern day Civil Rights Movement," he said.

Between 1941 and 1945, Tuskegee Army Airfield trained 992 black aviators for the war effort, some of whom were Tuskegee Institute graduates.

Hill pointed out that the 23rd FTS, a geographically separated unit of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland, had ties to the Tuskegee Airmen. In 1942, when it was designated the 58th Fighter Group at Selfridge Field, Michigan, it served as a flying training group, training some of the Tuskegee Airmen. Before the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had flown for the U.S. military.

After refueling at Moton Field, north of Tuskegee, the Hueys landed on the campus' football practice field where the cadets were waiting. They proceeded to fly five chalks, or rotations, in two-ship flight formations, each helicopter carrying four passengers.

Afterwards, Cadet Natasha Monroe, a junior animal science major said, "The helicopter flights were amazing! As a Tuskegee University student and Det. 015 cadet, I am excited to be a part of continuing the legacy of the famed Tuskegee Airmen--they laid the groundwork for us and we want to honor their history and heritage by doing our best."

McCain said the orientation flights were the first time many of the cadets had been on a helicopter and their feedback can be summed up in two words:  "Outstanding and Amazing." Of particular value, he said, was the aircrew sharing their stories of flying overseas and with different commands, such as special operations. McCain said it was a great way to expose the cadets to one of the many facets of the Air Force.

Cadet Marcus Brown, a junior aerospace engineering major said, "The Helicopter ride was outstanding, I got to see a different outlook on Tuskegee from the air and realized just how significance the Tuskegee Airmen and this University is."

Asked if he wanted to have the flights again next year, McCain joked that he was ready to do them again next week. He also said it was great for recruiting for everyone on campus to see the helicopters taking off and landing on campus.

"This was a great opportunity to recognize the strength of the detachment and to highlight the training mission the 23rd FTS executes today," Szeniawski said, who piloted on of the helicopters.

Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 by Dr. Booker T. Washington, who served as an advisor to U.S. presidents. Moton Field Municipal Airport, where the Hueys landed to refuel, was the site of undergraduate flight training for the Tuskegee Airmen starting in 1941 and is home to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. It was named after Robert Russa Moton, Tuskegee Institute president for 20 years. The science hall where the cadets mustered for the SUPT-H briefing was designed in 1932 by Robert Robinson Taylor, the first academically trained African American architect and the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

One of the most famous Tuskegee Institute graduates, the late General Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr., not only trained pilots for World War II, but flew 101 combat missions in P-51 Mustang and F-80 aircraft during the Korean War; flew 78 combat missions into North Vietnam into Vietnam; and subsequently moved up the ranks and earned a four-star grade in 1975, and was assigned commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command/Air Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. James was the first African-American officer to earn the four-star rank.

The Tuskegee Airmen's victory abroad against fascism and  victory at home against racism "led President Truman to integrate the Armed Forces in 1948, and provided a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's," according to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Site's website.

"There are so many history pieces to this," Szeniawski said.