Origins and Training
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In the late 1930s President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, pictured here, anticipated that the United States could be drawn into a war with Europe. His administration, therefore, began a pilot training program in 1938 to create a reserve of trained civilian fliers in case of national emergency. This was a precaution, but turned out to be unnecessary as the war ended. After African-American leaders argued that blacks should share with whites the burden of defending the United States, the program was soon opened to African-Americans. In 1940, the Selective Training and Service Act banned racial discrimination in conscription, clearing the way for blacks to be trained for Air Corps service.
Above: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the USA
Above: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the USA