The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces during World War II. They initially were equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks fighter-bomber aircraft, briefly with Bell P-39 Airacobras (March 1944), later with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts (June–July 1944), and finally the fighter group acquired the aircraft with which they became most commonly associated, the North American P-51 Mustang (July 1944).
When the pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group painted the tails of their P-47's red, the nickname "Red Tails" was coined. The Red Tails flew 15,533 sorties, 1,578 missions, destroyed 261, aircraft, and damaged another 148.
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