Many soldiers ferociously opposed allowing women in uniform, warning their sisters and friends they would be seen as lesbians or prostitutes. In 1943 the recruiting momentum stopped and went into reverse as a massive slander campaign on the home front challenged the WACs as sexually immoral. While the conservative opinion in the leadership of the Army was initially opposed to women serving in uniform, as was public opinion, the shortage of men necessitated a new policy. ![]() Ībout 150,000 American women eventually served in the WAAC and WAC during World War II. ![]() The United States Army Air Forces became an early and staunch supporter of regular military status for women in the army. A resistance by senior Army commanders was overcome by the efficient service of WAACs in the field, but the attitude of men in the rank and file remained generally negative and hopes that up to a million men could be replaced by women never materialized. Inept publicity and the poor appearance of the WAAC/WAC uniform, especially in comparison to that of the other services, handicapped recruiting efforts. It included a section on designing a personal fitness routine after basic training and concluded with "The Army Way to Health and Added Attractiveness" with advice on skin care, make-up and hair styles. The fitness manual was state-of-the-art for its day, with sections on warming up and progressive body-weight strength-building exercises for the arms, legs, stomach, neck and back. Be Ready To Take Over." It cited the commitment of women to the war effort in England, Russia, Germany and Japan, and emphasized that the WAC recruits must be physically able to take on any job assigned to them. The manual begins by naming the responsibility of the women: "Your Job: To Replace Men. WAC armorers maintained and repaired small arms and heavy weapons that they were not allowed to use.Ī physical training manual titled "You Must Be Fit" was published by the War Department in July 1943, aimed at bringing the women recruits to top physical standards. This was later expanded to dozens of specialties like Postal Clerk, Driver, Stenographer, and Clerk-Typist. The bakers were usually the lowest scoring recruits. Next came the mechanics, who had to have a high degree of mechanical aptitude and problem solving ability. The brightest and nimblest were trained as switchboard operators. The WAAC were first trained in three major specialties. WAC Signal Corps field telephone operators, 1944 The women were fitted for uniforms, interviewed, assigned to companies and barracks and inoculated against disease during the first day. In 1942, the first contingent of 800 members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps began basic training at Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Officer Training School, Iowa. The WAAC was modeled after comparable British units, especially the ATS, which caught the attention of Army Chief of Staff George C. Stimson decided to increase the limit by authorizing the enlistment of 150,000 volunteers. ![]() That goal was unexpectedly exceeded, so the Secretary of War Henry L. Roosevelt signed the bill he set a recruitment goal of 25,000 women for the first year. The senate approved the bill on and became law on. The bill was held up for months by the Bureau of the Budget but was resurrected after the United States entered the war. Without the support of the War Department, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts introduced a bill on, providing for a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. ![]() Mudgett, the first WAAC Pre-Planner however, nearly all of his plans were discarded or greatly modified before going into operation because he expected a corps of only 11,000 women. The WAAC's organization was designed by numerous Army bureaus coordinated by Lt. The WAC was disbanded in 1978, and all units were integrated with male units. Its first director was Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps ( WAAC) on and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943. The Women's Army Corps ( WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army.
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