Top Gun Winner Col. James Harvey, III & The Tuskegee Airmen | Behind the Wings

[@Wings_Museum]

It was a true honor to interview Col. Harvey, especially in the same month he and his Tuskegee team were finally recognized for their 1949 Top Gun win. A true hero and inspiration. Drop a comment or question and we'll try to reply to as many as we can!

[@nedstewart1]

When did the TOPGUN school start? 1969 The Navy's Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course - better known as TOPGUN - has a reputation for producing the best fighter pilots in the world. The school has been around since 1969 and was made famous by the classic 1986 film of the same name

[@nedstewart1]

Despite having the technological edge, the Navy was experiencing unacceptable combat losses in Vietnam. In response, the service commissioned an investigation and tasked Navy Capt. Frank Ault to lead the effort. The resulting report, known as the Ault Report, highlighted many performance deficiencies and their root causes, including the need for an advanced course to teach fighter tactics. The result was the Navy Fighter Weapons School, established at Miramar in 1969. Nicknamed TOPGUN, the school's mission was - and still is - to train aircrew in all aspects of aerial combat to be carried out with the utmost professionalism. In its early days, its students were trained over the course of four weeks on F-4 Phantom II aircraft to get better at one-on-one aerial combat, also known as dogfighting. "When TOPGUN graduates began to go back to the fleet in the early 1970s and the air war started back up, the Navy's kill ratio jumped. TOPGUN worked," Peverill said. "It validated that the training, the subject-matter expertise and, most importantly, the professionalism that it produced worked in combat and it produced results."

[@volcada]

Love this short interview! Col. James Harvey III is amazing and has a lot of class. Thank you for your service for our country and hats off to you succeeding over such fierce adversity.

[@Wings_Museum]

At 98 years old Col. Harvey is still as sharp as a tack!

[@karltonkilby2262]

Thank you for featuring Col. Harvey. Thank you Col. Harvey for your sacrifices and opening so many doors.

[@carlweiss8942]

what a treasure ,thank you for this life lesson

[@Wings_Museum]

His advice to the next generation at the end is just the cherry on top. Such an amazing life story and a true hero

[@galenmerrick]

As a prior enlist Airman. I'm happy to see LTC. Harvey and the 332nd finally get the recognition they deserve. It also saddens me to see that it took over 70 years for this to come to light. They didn't just beat the competition. They obliterated it, so much that they had to cheat them. Well done Colonel Harvey and the rest of the 332nd.

[@nedstewart1]

A total lie. The 332nd, were never cheated, THE MISCONCEPTION THAT THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN WON THE 1949 USAF GUNNERY MEET IN LAS VEGAS, DEFEATING ALL OTHER FIGHTER GROUPS IN THE AIR FORCE. The fighter groups that took part in the USAF gunnery meet in Las Vegas competed in two separate categories. In the jet aircraft category, there was a total of 1,000 possible points, 400 for aerial gunnery, and 200 each for ground gunnery, dive bombing, and skip bombing. In the reciprocating (propeller) aircraft category, there was a total of 1,200 possible points, 400 for aerial gunnery, and 200 each for panel gunnery, dive bombing, skip bombing, and rockets. The 4th Fighter Group won the jet aircraft category, with 490.180 points out of a possible 1,000 points, for 49 percent of the possible points. The 332nd Fighter Group won the reciprocating aircraft category, with 536.588 points out of a possible 1,200 points, for 45 percent of the possible points. It would not be fair to compare the fighter groups on the basis of total points, since the groups flying in the reciprocal class could earn a possible 200 more points than the groups flying in the jet class. While the 332nd Fighter Group scored more points than any other group, it was competing in a category that allowed 200 extra points beyond that allowed for the groups in the jet class. If one compares the fighter groups according to the percentage of points they scored of the possible total, the 4th Fighter Group actually scored better. To compare the groups of the two different classes, however, would not be fair, since the categories were different, and the total number of points allowed was also different. In any case, it would be false to say that the 332nd Fighter Group won the 1949 USAF gunnery meet, and defeated all the other groups that competed. THEIR WAS NO TOP GUN IN 1949,

[@nedstewart1]

They obliterated it...name the score. They didn't just beat the competition. They obliterated Embellished not true.

[@nedstewart1]

Stewart also pointed out that though the fighter weapons meet was a team competition, the highest-scoring individual pilot was white. “We were outgunned in the strafing category by a P-51,” he admitted. “Our points leader at the time was Captain Alva Temple. He was amassing a tremendous score until panel gunnery came along. Temple was set to be the top gun until this fellow from the 82nd Fighter Group named [1st Lt. William W.] Crawford came along, and he shot an uncanny score on strafing. To give credit where it’s due, Crawford got the top individual score, and Temple came in second.” Through the efforts of former Tuskegee Airmen and other enthusiasts, the 1949 U.S. Continental Gunnery Meet trophy was finally unearthed, in 1996, in a storeroom at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. It is currently on permanent display at the museum. “There’s a story there that we’ll never know,” said Stewart. “Some people attribute it to racial bias, but I don’t feel that way myself. I think it was just a military screw-up.”

[@galenmerrick]

@@nedstewart1 Great account, you were there right? I doubt it. I think I'll stick to Lite Col. Harvey's version. Considering he actually competed. Oh, and won. I'm sure you can't say the same.

[@nedstewart1]

"top gun". “No, I don’t recall that at all,” said Stewart. “The white pilots were polite, cordial, not condescending. We didn’t do too much socializing with them, though we did with our brother fighter pilots from the Ninth Air Force, the 4th Fighter Group. They were white, flying F-80s in the jet division. We had trained at some of the same fields, so we had an ongoing rapport with one another.” He takes pride in the fact that the 4th Group won the jet class, making it a clean sweep for the Ninth Air Force.

[@chrismaurer2075]

During high school being a kid I didn't know how lucky I was that my math teacher was a Tuskegee Airman. R.I.P. Gil Cargill.

[@NishnaValleyRailVideos]

There’s the F-102! Hiding next to the B-18A. Interesting. And thank you for your service Harvey.

[@warpartyattheoutpost4987]

Make sure all of your devices get the reminder!

[@Wings_Museum]

This guy knows what's up

[@antonyobwogo6868]

This would make one heck of a good movie...or TV series

[@Wings_Museum]

Thanks! We do have a tv show "Behind the Wings on PBS" check it out on our channel!

[@Carlsbergblump]

The baddest dude in the room of this interview.

[@chriscroumbie-brown6914]

Fantastic Interview

[@Wings_Museum]

Thanks! stay tuned for more. We're back with monthly videos AND another season on PBS this Spring! (we will also post on KZbin!)

[@MalikMahdi23]

Legendary Interview! Thank you for posting this historic & lovely video ✈️⭐️💗

[@vascoribeiro69]

Winning Top Gun in 1949 with the F-47N? Wow!!!

[@Wings_Museum]

The 332nd Group's competitors were flying P-51 Mustangs and F-82 Twin Mustangs. The Tuskegee Airmen were flying obsolete P-47 Thunderbolt

[@vascoribeiro69]

@@Wings_Museum the N version was the best, bigger wings, more fuel, more power and even tail warning radar.

[@nedstewart1]

The story that the trophy was deliberately hidden by racists to cover up the achievement of the black pilots does not ring true. For one thing, the 332nd Fighter Group was only one of four organizations listed on the trophy, and three of them were white. Hiding the trophy would not only obscure black heroes, but white ones as well. Another factor to consider is that when the trophy was awarded for the last time, no institution called the Air Force Museum existed yet. In 1956, the Air Force Technical Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was renamed the Air Force Museum, which was open to the public, but the trophy was not yet a part of the museum’s collection, but belonged to the Smithsonian Institution, which could not display all of the thousands of artifacts in its inventory. In 1971, the Air Force Museum moved to its current site, but was still only a fraction of what it is today. Not until 1975 was the museum constituted as an official USAF organization rather than simply a named activity. The museum grew tremendously in size in the decades after 1975, and eventually had more room to exhibit artifacts. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. transferred some of its United States Air Force artifacts to the Air Force Museum. Among them was the trophy from the USAF gunnery meets in Las Vegas in 1949 and 1950. Years later, largely through the efforts of Zellie Orr, the trophy for the Air Force’s gunnery meets in Las Vegas in 1949 and 1950 was put on display as part of an exhibit to commemorate the achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen, since the 332nd Fighter Group was its most famous organization, although the 332nd Fighter Group was not the only group to win the trophy. 85 The gunnery meets at Las VegasThe gunnery meets were discontinued not because a black group had won, but because the Korean War broke out in 1950, and the Air Force needed to deploy its best fighter groups to the Far East to take part in the conflict, which did not end until 1953. 17: THE MISCONCEPTION THAT THE OUTSTAND

[@merrittorius]

"Mickey mouse stuff" 🤣🤣 LOVE IT

[@Sholto_David]

Awesome interview, thanks!

[@Wings_Museum]

Thanks! We're back with monthly Behind the Wings videos so be sure to stick around for more!

[@Sholto_David]

@@Wings_Museum Absolutely, love this channel! I'll have to visit some time 😃

[@CrayNovick]

Who came from TikTok?

[@nilimapo15]

Me 😅

[@nedstewart1]

“No, I don’t recall that at all,” said Stewart. “The white pilots were polite, cordial, not condescending. We didn’t do too much socializing with them, though we did with our brother fighter pilots from the Ninth Air Force, the 4th Fighter Group. They were white, flying F-80s in the jet division. We had trained at some of the same fields, so we had an ongoing rapport with one another.” He takes pride in the fact that the 4th Group won the jet class, making it a clean sweep for the Ninth Air Force.

[@LocknLoad1142]

Just your response instead of acknowledging the wrong in it shows what I already know about you fighting so hard in the comments regardless the military was racist back in the day to the same people who’s relatives were slaves but still chose to fight for the country most of y’all are low key devils

[@nedstewart1]

@@LocknLoad1142 As I stated before I hold the Tuskegee Airmen in the highest esteem. They were true heroes and deserve to be honored for their contribution to the Army Air Corp and the nation. If I have offended any one I truely. apologize

[@aleksandarl6975]

World wide fighter competition? Realy? Brits Germans and Russians where also competing? I tought top gun was US only competirion.

[@nedstewart1]

Their was no Top Gun competition in 1949. Top Gun started in 1969 because pilots flying the F4 needed further training to compete in Vietnamn. In 1949 the Tuskegee airmen took place in a competition and won the propeller competition. The F-4 fighter squadron won the jet competition. So their were 2 competitions...the propeller competition and the jet competition. The term Top Gun had never been heard of. No one hid a trophy because they did not want to give credit to the 332nd. A total lie.

[@Wings_Museum]

🚨Fact Check! Military.com and any number of sources calls it the first Top Gun Competition: www.military.com/history/tuskegee-airmen-won-first-air-force-top-gun-aerial-gunnery-competition.html

[@Wings_Museum]

"the U.S. military's first real-world "Top Gun" program wasn't set up by the Navy. It was an Air Force program that first took place in 1949."

[@nedstewart1]

@@Wings_Museum Established during the Vietnam bombing halt that began in March 1968, TOPGUN operated for three years before the air war resumed in full. When it did, the kill ratio for Navy fighters increased to as much as 13:1, and TOPGUN graduates scored the majority of the Navy’s MiG kills.3 The school was here to stay. MARCH 1968 TOP GUN was established. ONCE AGAIN: Established during the Vietnam bombing halt that began in March 1968, Established in 1968

[@1ofthemdudes]

The trophy doesn't really matter, though you certainly don't know because you weren't there. What is very clearly true, is that they weren't acknowledged by history for this particular accomplishment.

[@nedstewart1]

@@1ofthemdudes Neither was the 4th. jet Air Corp which won the jet class competition. The 4th. won the jet competition and the Tuskegee Airmen 332nd. won the propellar competition. In 1969 Top Gun was formed and named and was used to further train the pilots of the F-4 fighter jet in Viet Namn