JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
On 30 September 1988, roughly 400 women gathered at Charleston Air Force Base for a special reunion, which culminated in an orientation flight with an all-female flight crew aboard a C141-Starlifter. These women were not only veterans but had also served in the Women Air Service Pilots (WASP) program, which marked a significant chapter in the history of aviation and women's contributions to military service.
In December 1941, the United States entered “The War, or The European War,” or broadly “The Conflict” that would later be referred to as World War II to differentiate from the First World War (1914-1918). As young men answered the call to serve their country in combat roles, women also answered the call by serving in non-combat roles such as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), formed in May 1942. The following year, it became the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) to free up men to fight overseas. Like the Army, the Navy had the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service or WAVES. Still, unlike both WAVES and WAC, women who joined the Women Air Service Pilots were not absorbed into a military branch during World War II and thus lacked veteran status to be eligible for benefits until November 23, 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed the “GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977” into law recognizing WASPs as veterans. Because of their civilian status during the war, WASPs were denied military insurance, death benefits for families, and burial expenses. Oftentimes, WASP members would take up a collection to pay transportation costs of the fallen WASP member’s body.
The WASP program originated as two separate organizations created by two female pilots, Nancy Love and Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran: the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD). Lieutenant General Henry “Hap” Arnold approved both programs by the end of 1942 and merged the WAFS and WFTD to form WASP under Cochran and Love. WASPs played a critical role in the Army Air Forces by testing newly repaired aircraft, training pilots, ferrying aircraft from factories to military bases, and towing targets behind their planes for live fire practice by male pilots. These women exemplified skill and courage in the face of adversity by challenging societal norms of the time and willfully accepting the risks of service to their country. The Women Air Service Pilots pioneered the way for women in the military and aviation sectors and laid the groundwork in other areas of industry once barred to women.
To qualify for the WASP program, women needed to be between 18-35 years old, hold a pilot's license, with at least 200 hours logged flying time, have a high school diploma, and pass a physical from an Army flight surgeon, to name a few. Women from all backgrounds applied to the program, from teachers and engineers to nurses, but they all shared the passion to fly and to serve their country. Since the program was Civil Service, the women had to pay for their way to flight training in Sweetwater, Texas, for their room and board, and uniforms. If they failed to pass the rigorous program, they paid for the trip back to their home of record; however, despite numerous challenges, eighteen classes graduated from the WASP program.
From Shaw Army Air Base in Sumter, South Carolina, the WASP’s flew BT-13s as engineering test pilots and taught future pilots instrument reading. They ferried non-flying personnel, transported documents and cargo, conducted weather flights, and helped establish routes for B-29s out of Asheville, North Carolina, under the U.S. Army Air Forces Weather Wing, where the 14th Weather Squadron currently conducts operations.
When the WASP Program ended in December 1944, WASP had flown 60 million miles in 78 different airframes from pursuit aircraft to heavy bombers with thirty-eight killed in service. On 7 December, at the final graduation, Gen Arnold stated, “…you and 900 of your sisters have shown that you can fly wingtip to wingtip with your brothers.”