After the invasion of North Africa in November 1942, the
need for flight nurses exceeded the supply, and women
who had not yet finished their training were called into
action and sent to North Africa on Christmas Day.
Finally, in February 1943, the first class of Army Nurse
Corps flight nurses graduated. Unlike their
stateside-stationed counterparts in the WASPs, flight
nurses (nicknamed "Winged Angels") in the Army Nurse
Corps served in combat. They were especially vulnerable
to enemy attacks because aircraft used for evacuation
could not display their non-combat status.
These same aircraft were also used to transport military
supplies. In anticipation and preparation for almost any
emergency, flight nurses were required to learn crash
procedures, receive survival training, and know the
effects of high altitude on a vast array of pathologies.
Of the nearly 1.2 million patients air evacuated
throughout the war, only 46 died en route. About 500
USAAC nurses (only 17 died in combat) served as members
of 31 medical air evacuation transport squadrons
throughout the world.
When President Harry Truman signed The National Security
Act of 1947, creating the Department of Defense, the U.
S. Air Force became a separate military service. At the
time, a number of Women's Army Corps (WACs) members
continued serving in the Army but performed Air Force
duties. The following year, some WACs chose to transfer
to the Women's Air Force (WAFs--with a lower case s)
when it finally became possible to do so.
Originally, the WAFs were limited to 4,000 enlisted
women and 300 female officers, all of whom were
encouraged to fill a variety of ground duty
roles--mostly clerical and medical--but were not to be
trained as pilots, even though the USAAC had graduated
the first class of female pilots in April 1943, during
wartime. In 1976, when women were accepted into the Air
Force on an equal basis with men, the WAF program ended,
but not before many milestones were achieved and marked
along the way in preparation for today's Air Force
woman.
The WAFs in Evolution - The first WAF recruit was Sgt.
Esther Blake who enlisted on July 8, 1948, in the first
minute of the first day that regular Air Force duty was
authorized for women. She had been a WAC, and she
transferred in from Fort McPherson, Ga. The first
recruits reported to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in
1948. When basic training was desegregated in the Air
Force the following year, many African-American women
recruits joined, even though the integration of quarters
and mess had not yet been achieved.
At
first, WAFs wore men's uniforms with neckties. It was "a
look" that didn't last long, and winter uniforms for
WAFs were modeled after flight attendants' uniforms,
using the same material as the men's winter uniforms.
The necktie was abandoned early on, and was replaced
with tabs on the collar. The summer uniform--a two-piece
dress made of cotton-cord seersucker--didn't fare as
well. Ill-fitting, it required frequent ironing. It
would be years before a suitable women's uniform would
be achieved.
Milestones Along the Way - In its 10-year lifespan, from
1951 to 1961, the 543rd Air Force Band (WAF) was served
by 235 women musicians, with approximately 50 members at
any one time. This band, the WAF Band as it was known,
along with the all-male Air Force Band, served as
ambassadors of the Air Force simultaneously. The WAF
band marched in both of President Eisenhower's inaugural
parades, and they played for President Kennedy's
inauguration, among other concert engagements throughout
the nation. The band was deactivated in 1961. Some say
that it was a victim of its own success.
It
was during this same time period--1956--that a WAF
section was introduced into the college-level Reserve
Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, and by 1959
four universities were running ROTC WAF sections. By
1970, they had achieved a national presence. Concurrent
with the expansion of the ROTC women's cadet program,
Congress passed Public Law 90-130 in 1967, lifting grade
restrictions and strength limitations on women in the
military.
And with the end of Selective Service (the "draft") in
1973, recruiting practices changed. Shortly
afterwards--1976--the separate status of WAF was
abolished, and women entered pilot training as military
personnel for the first time. (The WASPS and WAFS of
World War II had come in to service as civilians with
pilots' licenses.) Our country's bicentennial year also
saw women entering the service academies, which had not
been opened to them prior to President Ford's
administration.
By
1993, women were receiving fighter pilot training, and
Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms (then Maj. Helms), member of the
first class of the U. S. Air Force Academy to graduate
women, was also the first American military woman in
space as part of the Space Shuttle Endeavor team. Coming,
full circle, the final chapter for the WAFS and WASPS of
World War II was achieved in 1977, when President Jimmy
Carter awarded them full status as veterans, complete
with benefits. A fitting epilogue was added in 2010 with
the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal. Today,
there are approximately 300 of the original women air
force pilots still living.
By
the Numbers - The milestones cited above are just
that--the highlights of women in service to their
country. Each day, women in the Air Force distinguish
themselves and honor those who have gone before them by
doing the jobs that matter to us all--performing in
professional, administrative, technical and clerical
positions.
Women make up 19 percent of all Air Force military
personnel and 30.5 percent of all civilian personnel. Of
the female officers, 55 percent of the female officers
are line officers, and 45 percent are non-line. Of the
328,423 active duty personnel, 62,316 are women, with
712 female pilots, 259 navigators and 183 air battle
managers.
Women's History Month - Today, Women's History Month
awareness for all the armed services is initiated by the
Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute
headquartered at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.. Among the
tools and initiatives for observing this month-long
celebration of the role women have played throughout
history, the Institute is making available a free
download of this year's Women's National History Project
poster, "Women's Education--Women's Empowerment."
Empowerment of women has strengthened the services.
Starting with the WASPS and WAFS of World War II,
through the WAFs of the '50s and '60s, through the
acceptance and promotion of women at the service
academies, each generation of women and their
evolved sense of service to their country, has
prepared the future for generations of women seeking
unlimited opportunity.
|