Lessons on black WWII pilots cut from air force training after Trump order

Donald Trump's move to block diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has led to the US Air Force removing material on the role of black and female pilots during World War Two from its training programmes.

A military official said "immediate steps" were taken to remove material to "ensure compliance" with the US president's order, the BBC's US news partner CBS reported.

Trainee troops were previously shown footage of pioneering servicemen and women as part of DEI courses during basic military training.

Trump signed an executive order banning such programmes in the federal government soon after returning to office, fulfilling a pledge he repeatedly made during the campaign.

Among the material removed from the curriculum are lessons on the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of around 1,000 black pilots who were trained at a segregated air base in Alabama between 1941 and 1946.

They flew hundreds of patrol and attack missions during the war, escorting American bombing crews over Europe.

Lessons on Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, have also been removed from lesson plans, an official confirmed.

The female pilots were vital in transporting new planes bound for fighting in Europe from the factories where they were produced. Their contribution was later recognised with the right to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, which is reserved for military personnel.

An Air Force official told CBS News: "Immediate steps were taken to remove curriculum that is now under review to ensure compliance with Executive Orders issued by the president.

"Historical videos were interwoven into US Air Force and Space Force curriculum and were not the direct focus of course removal actions. Additional details on curriculum updates will be provided when they're available."

DEI programmes are designed to increase minority participation in the workforce and educate employees about discrimination.

But Trump and other critics say the training is discriminatory because it takes race, gender, sexual identity or other characteristics into consideration.

Earlier this week the Trump administration emailed thousands of federal employees ordering them to report any efforts to "disguise" diversity initiatives in their agencies or face "adverse consequences".

While Trump's executive order is limited to state-funded agencies, several major companies have followed suit, including DEI training being scaled back at Meta and Amazon.