In 1941, Davis was assigned to the first training class at Tuskegee Army Air Field and earned his pilot’s wings in early 1942 as one of five black officers to complete the course. He was the first black officer to solo an Army Air Corps aircraft. Four months later he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and named commander of the first all-black air unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron. It was the beginning of the famed “Tuskegee Airmen.”
They would see their first combat action over the skies of North Africa flying the Curtiss P-40 fighter, but later that year Davis would be called back to the U.S. to take command of the larger 332nd Fighter Group, preparing to head overseas.
Ozer, J.T. "Tuskegee Airman Goes on to Become First Air Force African-American General". 2012. Official Web Site of the U.S. Air Force. 23 May 2012 .