Photo By Staff Sgt. Jason Huddleston | Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., greets Jerry Burton, National President...... read more read more
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., delivered the 89th Airlift Wing’s newest C-37B Gulfstream G550 aircraft, tail #1941, from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama Nov. 3.
The aircraft's tail number was designated 1941 in tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the U.S. military’s first Black pilots, who were founded in 1941.
Brown, who was named an honorary Tuskegee Airman and inducted into Tuskegee Airmen Inc. August 2021, shared his thoughts on being able to deliver tail #1941 during the ceremony.
“I am humbled to not only be asked to deliver this aircraft, but to be a red jacket wearer and now to be a red tail flyer. Honestly, I kind of pinched myself that I got this opportunity and a great connection. I’m humbled to also have the opportunity to leave a legacy for future generations,” he said. “I believe that our young people only aspire for what they can see, and I hope to inspire young men and women as they see all the possibilities that this world has to offer.”
The aircraft will be flown by the wing’s 99th Airlift Squadron, which is not directly affiliated with the Tuskegee Airmen, but shares the unit number of the first unit activated for the Tuskegee Airmen, the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Currently, the 99th AS is the only unit in the Air Force that flies the C-37B.
“In the 99th Airlift Squadron, arguably more than most Air Force squadrons, our members know all our tail numbers and have individual relationships with these aircraft,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Anthony Cannone, 99th AS commander. “Our future members will remember their missions on tail 1941, whether it's a flight attendant who will serve and have a personal moment with a DV, communication systems operator who will remember connecting an extremely important call to the White House, flight engineer who will fix a normally mission-ending mechanical problem and keep the DV mission on time, pilot who will lead an around-the-world trip, or a Squadron Aviation Resource Management member who will help generate a no-notice mission on tail 1941. The tail number will create future memories for our squadron and link those future memories to the Tuskegee Airmen’s historic past.”
It's the sixth C-37B to be added to the 99th AS, bringing the squadron’s total inventory of C-37 type aircraft to 10, and the fourth 89th AW frame to receive its tail number from a key point in U.S. military aviation history.
It's certainly a series of cool and unique events that have taken place, noted Robert Spiers, 89th AW historian.
“For a unit that prides itself on hiring the best of the best, there’s a degree of camaraderie the Airmen here feel with getting the opportunity to further highlight the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen,” Spiers said.
To read more more about the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, please visit https://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/legacy/the-story/
| Date Taken: | 11.03.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.03.2021 21:11 |
| Story ID: | 408646 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 1,708 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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