Women Airforce Service Pilots - WASP
In this week in military history, we explore the service, contributions, and legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, a World War II all-female flight organization awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on July 1, 2009.
In September 1942, with WWII evolving, The U.S. had a demand for more overseas combat missions and a need to free up male pilots for those roles. This led to the creation of two women flight groups for duties like Ferrying planes and Cargo transportation. A year later they merged forming the Women Airforce Service Pilots, also known as WASP, under the leadership of Jacqueline Cochran. These women pilots underwent the exact training regimen male pilots received and graduated 1,074 pilots. Flying military aircraft in the continental United States, they logged more than 60,000,000 miles, flew every type of aircraft in the Army Air Corps’ inventory, and did every type of assignment, except combat missions. When male pilots began refusing to fly the B-26 Martin Marauder, dubbing it the “Widowmaker”, WASP test flew the aircraft to prove it was safe to fly.
Their Congressional Gold Medal citation in part reads in part: “assignments included test piloting,… towing targets for air-to-air, ground- to-air gunnery practice, ferrying, transporting personnel and cargo including parts for the atomic bomb, simulated strafing,… and flying drones.”
WASP were Army contract personnel. As a result, the 38 women who sacrificed their lives during the war received no military benefits. Among the 38 killed was one of the few Asian American WASPs, Hazel Ying Lee.
The service and contributions of the WASPs proved women could fly military aircraft. General Hap Arnold was among those who knew firsthand of their significant contributions.
Nonetheless, they were disbanded in December 1944, and after the war their records sealed for more than 30 years. Thus, when President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which called for greater opportunities for women in the United States Armed Forces, there was no mention of opportunities for women military pilots.
The legacy of the WASPs paved the way for many women who began entering military pilot training in the 1970s.
Jeannie Leavitt: First female Air Force fighter pilot and first women to command an Air Force fighter wing
*Sunita Williams: Naval helicopter pilot, of Indian-American descent, turned astronaut with seven spacewalks
*Nicole Malachoski & Amanda Lee: The first female Air Force Thunderbird pilot and Navy Blue Angel pilot
*Brenda Robinson: First African America female naval aviator
*Tammy Duckworth: United States Senator, of Asia Pacific American descent, who survived the shootdown of her helicopter by a rocker-propelled grenade in Iraq
*Karen Brannen: First female Marine Corps strike fighter pilot
Join us next time for another segment of this week in military history, with the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.