Page 3 - Women's History Month 2022 - Combined Special Edition of Luke AFB Thunderbolt - Davis-Monthan AFB Desert Lightning News

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The pioneering women of the WASP

A brief history of female pilots in WWII

Winged angels: USAAF flight nurses in WWII AileAN DUtertre a young woman named Betty Gil- rying planes, some women were
By
In the first class to graduate was
In addition to their work fer-
Aerotech News lies. With over a thousand flying part of tow target squadrons,
hours, Gillies would go on to pilot meaning they would fly planes
National Museum of the United Overcoming the stigma of being the Boeing B-17 Bomber Fortress with canvas targets for the male
States Air Force a woman in the U.S military was during WWII, along with Love. pilots to practice firing at for
no small feat for women in the During the war, women were combat. These extremely danger-
The 2022 Women’s History Month theme, early years. One group of women not permitted to fly combat mis- ous jobs took incredible skills to
“Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” of- pioneered a path for females in sions, but they still played a key execute, and by 1944 more than
fers the opportunity to pay tribute to the World War II and helped make role in ferrying planes. The women 12,000 planes were ferried by
thousands of ways women have provided a way for women to serve for piloted newly built planes from women during the war.
healing and hope throughout history. In generations to come. Though not the factories to military bases, to Cochran fought hard to keep
World War II, this was especially true of the considered a part of the military later be used in combat. the existence of the WASP alive,
women who would tend the wounded and at the time, Nancy Harkness Love,
take to the skies to provide care, although Jaqueline Cochran and Betty Gil-
it was not immediately known how critical lies were among the women of the
their work would prove to be. Women Airforce Service Pilots who
Before World War II, the U.S. military took to the skies during WWII,
showed little interest in using aircraft and despite the hardships they faced.
flight nurses to evacuate wounded soldiers Prior to the late 1940s, mili-
to rear areas. The global war, however, tary enlistment for females was
forced the U.S. Army Air Forces to revolu- not an option. Women could join
tionize military medical care through the voluntary positions as medical
development of air evacuation (later known caregivers, and some took cleri-
as aeromedical evacuation) and flight cal jobs. World War II would be
Courtesy photo nurses. a monumental turning point for
In July 1943, 2nd Lt. Ruth M. Gardiner The rapid expansion of USAAF air trans- the future of the military, opening
died in an aircraft crash en route to portation routes around the world made it new opportunities for numerous
evacuating patients in Alaska. She was possible to fly wounded and sick service- brave women yearning to serve
the first USAAF flight nurse killed in a men quickly to fully-equipped hospitals far Courtesy photo their country.
combat theater. from the front lines. This revolution saved An evacuation plane could be loaded and airborne within 10 minutes, usually with In 1938, after Amelia Earhart’s
one flight nurse and one medical technician. A flight surgeon briefed the nurse on
each patient’s condition prior to takeoff, and during the flight she was responsible ill-fated last flight, the U.S. opened Courtesy photo
for the safety and comfort of the patients. Here, Lt. Katve Swope checks patients be- a civilian pilot training program, Nancy Harkness Love, founder
ing evacuated from Sicily to Africa for further medical treatment in July 1943. welcoming some women into the of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry-
course alongside the men, a brand ing Squadron.
new idea for the era.
After a few short years, Cochran
the lives of many wounded men, and the evacuation team to land on Omaha Beach was director of the Women’s Flying but also worked to gain military
introduction of flight nurses helped make after the D-Day invasion. Training Detachment. Alongside status for the women as well.
it possible. Since the aircraft used for air evacua- her was Love, director of the Wom- However, in December 1944, eight
In early 1942, airlift units in Alaska, Bur- tion also transported military supplies, en’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron. months before the end of World
ma and New Guinea successfully evacuated they could not display the Red Cross. With Together the two women made War II, the WASP program was
patients using the same transport aircraft no markings to indicate their non-combat history on August 5, 1943, by dismantled and no longer part
that had carried men and supplies to the status, these evacuation flights were vul- combining the programs to create of the U.S. military mission. The
front. Due to a pressing need, the USAAF nerable to enemy attacks. For this reason, the Women Airforce Service Pilots, WASP would be the only women’s
created medical air evacuation squadrons flight nurses and medical technicians were or WASP. branch not to receive veterans
and started a rush training program for volunteers. The training for WASP was in- status during this time.
flight surgeons, enlisted medical techni- To prepare for any emergency, flight tense, similar to the male cadets, Nevertheless, the women of the
cians, and flight nurses at Bowman Field, nurses learned crash procedures, received beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at WASP persisted, advocating for
near Louisville, Ky. survival training, and studied the effects of 10 p.m. During their 27 weeks at nearly 30 years, and on Novem-
The need for flight nurses became critical high altitude on various types of patients. Avenger Field, Texas, the women ber 23, 1977, President Jimmy
after the Allied invasion of North Africa in In addition, flight nurses had to be in top cleaned barracks, studied physics, Carter signed public law 95-202,
November 1942, but the women at Bow- physical condition to care for patients dur- aircraft operations and a multi- giving women civilian pilots dur-
man Field had not finished their training. ing these rigorous flights. tude of other subjects. ing World War II, veteran status.
Nevertheless, the USAAF sent these nurses Eventually, about 500 Army nurses More than 25,000 women ap- As of today, women make up
to North Africa on Christmas Day. served as members of 31 medical air plied for training and only 1,879 fewer than ten percent of pilots
On Feb. 18, 1943, the U.S. Army Nurse evacuation transport squadrons operating candidates were accepted, with U.S. Air Force photo in the U.S military, but the work
Corps’ first class of flight nurses formally worldwide. It is a tribute to their skill that 1,074 successfully completing the Women Airforce Service Pilots students study their flight plan for the day, Jan. 1, 1943, Avenger Field, of the WASP and so many after
Courtesy photo graduated at Bowman Field. 2nd Lt. Geral- of the 1,176,048 patients air evacuated program. Texas. them helped make it possible.
At the AAF School of Air Evacuation at Bowman Field, K.Y., student flight nurses dine Dishroon, the honor graduate, received throughout the war, only 46 died en route.
learned how to handle patients with the aid of a mock-up fuselage of a Douglas C-47 the first wings presented to a flight nurse. Seventeen flight nurses lost their lives
transport. In 1944, Dishroon served on the first air during the war.

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