Measuring Success

A reader of "Flying" magazine wrote in the March 2005 edition about the Tuskegee Airmen(Called Red Tails because of the red markings on their P-51 Mustangs.) He explained that they were the target of some hostile reporters and politicians who wanted to see their unit dissolved presumably because they had a low shoot down ratio. But the truth was that their skipper ordered them not to leave the bomber groups they escorted and they did what they were told. Apparently it was common at the time for pilots to break off formation to engage individual enemy fighters and in the process leave the bombers exposed. They knew that numbers of kills would earn them glory so they left their bombers in order to realize their individual dreams of becoming aces. Thankfully the bomber pilots had plenty of respect for the work of the red tails and their unit remained. It just goes to show how success can be misinterpreted.