# Robert Selway
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{{Short description|United States Army Air Forces officer (1902–1967)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Robert Selway
|image= Col_Robert_R_Selway_1944.jpg
|image_size=
|caption=Colonel Robert Selway reviews members of the 618th Bombardment Squadron at Atterbury Air Field in Indiana in 1944.
|birth_date= {{birth date|1902|12|31}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1967|09|12|1902|12|31}}
|birth_place= [Wyoming](/source/Wyoming)
|death_place= [March Air Force Base](/source/March_Air_Force_Base), California
|burial_place= [Arlington National Cemetery](/source/Arlington_National_Cemetery)
|burial_label=
|nickname=
|allegiance=[United States of America](/source/United_States_of_America)
|branch= [United States Army Air Forces](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Forces)
|service_years=
|rank= [Colonel](/source/Colonel_(United_States))
|unit=
|commands= [477th Medium Bombardment Group](/source/477th_Fighter_Group)
|battles=[World War II](/source/World_War_II)
|awards=
|relations=
|other_work=
}}
'''Robert Roy Selway Jr.''' (December 31, 1902 – September 12, 1967)[{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pXzfqNAlsEC&dq=robert+selway+1902+1967&pg=PA148|page=148|title=Tuskegee Airmen|author=Barry M. Stentiford|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2012|isbn=9780313386848}}] was a United States Army Air Forces officer best known for being the first commanding officer of the [477th Medium Bombardment Group](/source/477th_Fighter_Group) of the [Tuskegee Airmen](/source/Tuskegee_Airmen) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and for his role in the [Freeman Field mutiny](/source/Freeman_Field_mutiny).[[https://books.google.com/books?id=_GqRJYUiWkYC&dq=Colonel+Robert+Selway&pg=PA190 Black Knights: The Story of the Tuskegee Airmen, Homan, Lynn, Thomas Reilly, page 190]][[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19430307&id=LXccAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tGQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6177,3599006 "Col. Selway, New Base C.O., and Mrs. Selway Honored"], ''Sarasota Herald-Tribune'', March 7, 1943][[https://books.google.com/books?id=O9wRsweqqhgC&dq=Colonel+Robert+Selway+red+tails&pg=PA34 Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and POW, Alexander Jefferson, page 34]]
==Biography==
thumb|left|150px|At West Point in 1924
Robert Selway was born in Wyoming on December 31, 1902.[{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HabECJ71A0C&pg=PA377 |title=Official Register of the Officers and Cadets |publisher=[United States Military Academy](/source/United_States_Military_Academy) |page=377 |date=1969 |access-date=2022-12-28 |via=Google Books}}] He graduated from the [United States Military Academy](/source/United_States_Military_Academy) at West Point in 1924.[
He died at [March Air Force Base](/source/March_Air_Force_Base) on September 12, 1967.][{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zwxAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PP1 |title=Assembly |volume=26–27 |publisher=[United States Military Academy](/source/United_States_Military_Academy) Association of Graduates |page=109 |year=1967 |access-date=2022-12-28 |via=Google Books}}]
==Freeman Field mutiny==
{{Main|Freeman Field mutiny}}
On April 5, 1945, members of the all-black 477th Medium Bombardment Group protested Selway's segregation of [Freeman Field](/source/Freeman_Field)'s officer clubs by entering the club designated by Selway to be for "supervisory and instructor personnel" instead of the club designated for "trainees." Despite the experience of some of the group's members, Selway had classified all members of the 447th Bombardment Group as trainees, effectively segregating the officer clubs by race. 36 officers entered the first day and were arrested when they refused to leave, while 35 officers were arrested the next night.[{{cite book |last=Moye |first=Todd |year=2010 |title=Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomflyerstus0000moye |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-538655-4 |url-access=registration }}]{{rp|133}}
Shortly after, Selway implemented Base Regulation 85–2, assigning specific housing, mess, and recreational facilities to officers. Selway proceeded to order each officer to sign a form confirming that they had read and understood the regulation. 101 of the 422 officers refused to sign, and were arrested for insubordination.