Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

	BENJAMIN O. DAVIS JR. Airman and Statesman
	Born Washington, D.C. on 18 December 1912. Six years after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he received his pilot wings in March 1942 at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama, in the first black pilot training class. During World War II, he commanded the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, both all-black flying units, in combat in the Mediterranean theater with the unique distinction of never losing a single bomber to enemy fighters on an escort mission. After the war he served with distinction in numerous and increasingly responsible command positions in the newly-integrated U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant General in 1970. He subsequently served in the U.S. Department of Transportation as the first Director of Civil Aviation Security and as Assistant Secretary for Safety and Consumer Affairs. He developed and implemented the security systems which protect American aviation facilities from terrorism. Throughout his long aviation career Benjamin O. Davis Jr. has, by leadership and example, inspired not only young black Americans but many others to pursue their goals in aerospace-related careers.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1996