The two world wars changed the world a great deal, not the least being women’s role in society. Here in America, the image of Rosie the Riveter springs immediately to mind, but did you realize that some 350,000 women served in the US Armed Forces during the Second World War?[1] In fact, their contribution was critical.
WAACs, WASPs, and WAVES, oh my!
When it came to military service, women in America were generally restricted to nursing until World War I, when suddenly they had the opportunity to train as yeomen, telephone operators, and munitions workers, opportunities which vanished at the conclusion of the war. Possibilities expanded again, however, after Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). In fact, the next two years saw the creation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and Women Accepted for Volunteer Service (WAVES). Most of these women, regardless of service branch, served on the home front, their units formed with the intention of freeing men to serve in active combat.
Want to Know More about Women in World War I?
Check out this The National WWI Museum and Memorial article!
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service
The first female naval line officer in American History was Mildred H. McAfee, the first director of the WAVES. In fact, the Navy formed an Advisory Council for the Women’s Reserve who oversaw the development of everything from the name to the uniform in order to organize, train, and administer the women’s branch of the Naval Reserve.
While most women were trained to serve in clerical roles, many women received training to become radio operators or storekeepers. Later in the war, WAVES received training in other specialized professionals typically held by men, including finance, chemical warfare, and aviation ordinance.
WAVES were both officers and enlisted, unlike the Yeoman (F) of the First World War. Some WAVES actually served in both World Wars, such as Lt. Joy Bright Hancock, USNR, and Lt (j.g.) Eunice Whyte, USNR, of the Bureau of Aeronautics. In fact, Aeronautics was one of the bureaus especially receptive to WAVES, and the women officers here took on many traditionally male roles in engineering, gunnery, radio and radar, aircraft navigation, and air traffic control.
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Unlike the Yeoman (F), many of whom had to acquire training around the performance of their duties, WAVES attended extensive training that ensured they were prepared for the roles assigned them and had a thorough understanding of the Navy and its culture.[2] Officer training took place at Smith College in Northampton, MA, while enlisted women began basic training at either Norman, OK, Cedar Falls, IA, or Milledgeville, GA. While most WAVES were white women, The Navy did recruit Japanese, Hispanic, Native American, and African American women, both in World War I as Yeomen (F) and in World War II as WAVES. In fact, the first black female Navy officers were WAVES Lt. (j.g.) Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Francis Wills. Today, all ratings and specialties in the Navy are opportunities available to any qualified woman, regardless of race. It is in thanks to the amazing women, volunteers one and all, who stepped up in times of turbulence and crisis to bolster their country and its Armed Forces and proved their ability to succeed when the going gets tough.
American women do anything they were given to do … their hours are long … their task is hard, [and] for them there is small hope of medals and citations and glittering homecoming parades.
– An Observer during the First World War
Want to Know More?
Check out the color photos in this National Air and Space Museum article!
Check out these recorded interviews at the U.S. Naval Institute!
Check out this article from Naval History and Heritage Command!
Check out this article from Time!
[1] https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/american-women-in-world-war-ii-1
[2] https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1942/manning-the-us-navy/waves_75th.html