The Freeman Field mutiny was a series of incidents at Freeman Army Airfield, a United States Army Air Forces base near Seymour, Indiana, in 1945 in which African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officers' club. The mutiny resulted in 162 separate arrests of black officers, some of them twice. Three were court-martialed on relatively minor charges. One was convicted. In 1995, the Air Force officially vindicated the actions of the African-American officers, set aside the single court-martial conviction and removed letters of reprimand from the permanent files of 15 of the officers. The mutiny is generally regarded by historians of the Civil Rights Movement as an important step toward full integration of the armed forces and as a model for later efforts to integrate public facilities through civil disobedience. Background The Tuskegee Airmen Before and during World War II, the armed forces of the United States, like much of American society, were segregated by race. Historically, most African-American soldiers and sailors were relegated to support functions rather than combat roles, with few opportunities to advance to command positions. In 1940, in response to pressure from prominent African-American leaders such as A. Philip Randolph and Walter White, President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the United States Army Air Corps (after 1941, the United States Army Air Forces) to black men who volunteered to train as fighter pilots. The first of the black units, the 99th Fighter Squadron, trained at an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama, which gave rise to the name "Tuskegee Airmen" as a blanket term for the Army's black aviators. Under the command of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the first African American to fly solo as an officer, the 99th saw action in North Africa and Italy in 1943. In 1944, the 99th was assigned, with three other black squadrons, to form the 332d Fighter Group. Origin of the 477th Bombardment Group (M) Continued pressure from African-American civilian leaders led the Army to let blacks train as members of bomber crews, a step that opened many more skilled combat roles to them. On January 15, 1944, the Army re-activated the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) to train African-American aviators to fly the B-25J Mitchell twin-engine medium bomber in combat. Under the command of Colonel Robert Selway, the 477th began training at Selfridge Field near Detroit, Michigan. Although the 477th had an authorized strength of