Women's Involvement In The Military

Since the American Revolutionary War, women have been involved in the military, but World War II was the first time women were able to serve in the military. The initial proposal of allowing women to get involved in the military was highly rejected, being ruled as an environment unfit for females. As the war became more intense, there was a high demand for qualified men to be drafted. As a result the national pool began to decrease. It became clear that female involvement was necessary. For every woman recruited, it would save men from those jobs in order to have more men in the national pool. Women started to get involved and by the beginning of December 1941, 350,000 women enlisted in the United States Armed Forces. The United States Armed …show more content…
Congresswoman Edith N. Rogers, brought forth the first bill to develop a women’s auxiliary in May 1941. Congress decided to pass the bill on the May 14, 1942. Oveta Culp Hobby was assigned as the first director of the WAAC. The Women’s Auxiliary Corps established five training centers set up in Fort Des Moines, Iowa, Daytona Beach, Florida, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and Camp Ruston, Louisiana. The organization did not withhold any formal military status which resulted in Rogers requesting another bill be passed to enlist and appoint women in the United States Army. On July 1, 1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill. Exactly ninety days later, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was terminated and was replaced with the Women’s Army Corps. The women trained for eight weeks. Within the first day of training, women were interviewed, fitted for uniforms, vaccinated against diseases, and appointed to companies and barracks. The training courses were very much similar to those of the men in the Army with the exception of weapons and tactical training. The basic training courses consisted of physical training, administration, military justice, first aid, customs and courtesy, drill and ceremony, map reading, and care/maintenance of equipment.Often, a whole week would be dedicated for women to spend their times on a bivouac, …show more content…
The beginnings of this organization was due to the help of pilot Jacqueline Cochran. “In 1939, on the day after Germany’s tanks rolled into Warsaw, Poland, pilot Jacqueline Cochran sent a letter to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt encouraging the use of women pilots in the armed forces.” (Women Airforce Service Pilots Digital Archive,Gateway to Women’s History). The Army was not ready to accept the idea of women apart of the Army let alone being in the cockpit operating a plane until September 1942. As World War II went on, the need for male combat pilots and warplanes intensified, leaving the Air Transport Command (ATC) with a decreasing amount of experienced pilots to operate planes. Their only option was to recruit women and train them in aircrafts. The ATC decided to hire pilot Nancy Harkness Love to recruit twenty-five highly qualified female pilots to ferry military aircraft. These pilots were known as the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). By September 14, 1942, the program was approved by General Henry Arnold, the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces. The organization placed Jacqueline Cochran to direct all decisions. The program was renamed the Army Air Forces Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD). On the 5th of August, 1943, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron and the Army Air Forces Women’s Flying Training Detachment were

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