332nd Fighter Group Customs

The 332nd Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. It was deactivated on 1 July 1949.

Formally, the 99th Pursuit Squadron established on 19 March 1941 and activated on 22 March 1941 was the beginning of the 332nd. The 99th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine eventually expanded into the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps. In succession, the 99th Fighter Squadron was joined by the 100th Fighter Squadron, 301st Fighter Squadron and 302nd Fighter Squadron.

The 332nd Fighter Group was also known as being a sizable component of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces.^[1] During World War II the Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the army, and had to overcome it as part of their mission to serve their nation. They flew with distinction; the 332nd Fighter Group, and most particularly the 99th Pursuit Squadron, were particularly successful in their missions as bomber escorts in Europe. The fighter units were joined in service later in the war by African Americans constituting the 477th Bombardment Group.