The name refers to the system's use of the earlier Gee equipment, as well as its use of the "H principle" or "twin-range principle" of location determination. Gee-H, sometimes written G-H or GEE-H, was a radio navigation system developed by Britain during World War II to aid RAF Bomber Command.
On March 10, 2010, the Women Airforce Service Pilots were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their pioneering military service, exemplary record, and revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.Radio navigation system developed by Britain during World War II Seven years later, in 1984, their service medals came in the mail. In 1977, with the help of Senator Barry Goldwater (Arizona), Representatives Lindy Boggs (Louisiana) and Margaret Heckler (Massachusetts), and Hap Arnold's son, Bruce Arnold, the WASP were finally granted veteran status. As women who had flown for the nation over 30 years earlier, WASP united in an effort to set the record straight. In 1976, the United States Air Force announced that women would be permitted to fly military aircraft, labeling it a "first" in U.S. After the program was disbanded at the end of 1944, WASP records were sealed, classified, and stored in the government archives for 33 years. In the years following the war, the WASP story was rarely told. In 1944, Representative John Costello of California sponsored House Bill 4219 to commission the Women Airforce Service Pilots as full-fledged military personnel. By 1943, the issue had also become a concern for the Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, who, like the rest of the nation, had become convinced of the value of the program to the war efforts. That seeming contradiction had long been an irritant for WASP. Army Air Force planes, Women Airforce Service Pilots were classified as civilians. In total, Women Airforce Service Pilots flew more than 60 million miles in service to their country.Īlthough they were stationed at U.S. Their missions included towing targets, ferrying planes, training bombardiers, tracking radar, providing instrument training to cadets, flying pursuits, testing engineering repairs, and multiple other assignments. The WASP took wing and flew into history.Īlong with their diplomas, Women Airforce Service Pilots were handed orders to report to one of 120 Army air bases or air fields across the U.S. Above all else, they didn’t want to fail.Īfter all the hours of flying, studying, working, worrying, and dreaming, 1074 female pilots graduated from Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas to become Women Airforce Service Pilots. Jacqueline Cochran herself noted that the female pilots were always reminded to "leave the glamour and the glory" for their brother pilots who were over on the front lines.īut perhaps the most difficult challenge was one the Women Airforce Service Pilots discovered they most cared about when they arrived at Avenger Field. Was it possible that a woman could actually fly a plane as well as a man? And if she did – and he was released from stateside duties as a result – did he really want to be sent on combat missions overseas? Success for the Women Airforce Service Pilots was a complicated issue. Friends and family wondered, Why on earth is she leaving …her family…her freedom…a good job…a teaching career…the Rockettes…college…? Male instructors at Avenger Field wondered publicly if the women could really fly these military planes, and male pilots worried privately that they could. The Women Airforce Service Pilots faced some unexpected challenges and resistance when they signed up. All in all, becoming a WASP took guts, skill, and stamina. Hydraulics, meteorology, Morse code, aerodynamics, physics, and airplane maintenance were just some of the required courses.Īdd to that, their male-sizes-only “zoot suit” uniforms didn’t fit, the weather was hot and dusty or cold and snowy, the bays (barracks) were crowded, the latrines were spartan, and sometimes meat loaf, grits, and squash just wasn’t a dream dinner. A woman could be in camp one day, and her locker cleaned out the next. If the trainee failed the check ride, she went before the commanding offier and a board who determined whether or not she would stay in the program. If an instructor felt a trainee was not meeting the requirements during any phase of flying training, that trainee was sent on a check ride with an Army check pilot. Although the women were already licensed pilots, they had to learn to fly America's military aircraft. The training Women Airforce Service Pilots received was as rigorous as that of the male cadets.
Famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran was named Director of Women Pilots. By 1943, all training took place at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. In 1942, a women’s flying training detachment program was created and approved.
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