Second Lieutenant Calvin J. Spann was a smart Tuskegee Airman. During the second World War, he was arguably, the United States’ smartest Airman, Tuskegee or otherwise. He did not set out to become a Tuskegee Airman. Spann simply wanted to fly fighter jets. At the age of 17 he was attending high school in New Jersey. He learned that the Army had a written examination for pilots.