RETRO SPECIAL

rom September 1942 to December 1944, a special branch of the U.S. Federal Civil Service played a crucial role in the American war effort. This unit had no official military standing, F but its pilots flew more than 60 million miles, transporting every type of military aircraft, and they even took part in live anti-aircraft gunfire practice and simulated strafing missions. Sadly, 38 pilots were killed in the line of duty, and one was lost and presumed killed while on a ferrying mission during World War II. All of these pilots were women, and in August 5, 1943, they were given the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) label to fly military aircraft and free up male pilots for combat and other duties. Despite their contributions, it was only in 1977 that WASP members were finally granted veteran status for their service. In 2009, they were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.

TAKING FLIGHT While female pilots regularly fly combat missions around the world today, in the 1930s, the chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps called a War Department idea to use women pilots “utterly unfeasible” and argued that women were too “high strung.” However, aviation pioneers like Amelia Earhart and THE Jacqueline Cochran proved that women could indeed fly. WAS P s REMEMBERING THE VITAL FEMALE PILOTS WHO HELPED THE WWII AMERICAN WAR EFFORT of (BY PETER SUCIU)

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DoD Photos

Four members of the WASP program Jacqueline Cochran wrote to First Lady Eleanor leave one of their B-17 Roosevelt in 1939 to suggest that female pilots could be Flying Fortresses at employed in a national emergency in non-combat roles. Lockburne Air Force Mrs. Roosevelt introduced Cochran to General Henry H. Base in Ohio. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Corps, and General Robert Olds, soon to be head of the Air Transport Command (ATC). When WWII broke out in Europe, Cochran volun- teered to fly planes for the British Air Transport Auxiliary , (ATA) and even recruited other American female pilots. In AMERICA S FIRST total, 25 women flew for the ATA, and these were the first American women to fly combat aircraft. FEMALE FIGHTER PILOT Meanwhile, test pilot Nancy Harkness Love, another n 1993, more than 30 years after the WASP program had female aviation pioneer, proposed a similar plan to the Air ended, Jeannie Marie Leavitt became the U.S. Air Force’s Corps Ferrying Command, but nothing was done until the I first female fighter pilot. The daughter of an Air Force U.S. entered the war at the end of 1941. Love also hap- enlisted man, she began her pilot training at Laughlin Air Force pened to be married to an Army Air Corps Reserve officer Base and later flew more than 300 combat hours over Afghani- who worked for the unit’s commander, Colonel William stan and Iraq. During Operation Southern Watch in 1995, H. Tunner. Love and Tunner devised a plan for an aviation Leavitt supported a Royal Air Force Tornado GR1 that was ferrying program that utilized female pilots. Originally under threat from Iraqi Roland surface-to-air missiles. Tunner suggested the pilots would serve She later took command of the 333rd Fighter as part of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Corps (WAAC), but a new civilian unit Carolina, and was then appointed commander of was created as the Women’s Auxiliary the 4th Fighter Wing in 2012. In 2016, she became Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) instead. the first woman to take control of the 57th Wing at The unit never numbered more than Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and was promoted 28 pilots, but it required that female to brigadier general. —Peter Suciu pilots have at least 500 hours of flying time and a 200-horsepower engine rating. However, the women who joined the WAFS actually averaged about 1,000 hours JEANNIE MARIE LEAVITT 50 TACTICAL LIFE | DEC. | 2019 TACTICAL-LIFE.COM THE WASPS OF WWII , AUTO -ORDNANCE s “MORE THAN 25,000 WOMEN 1911 APPLIED FOR PILOT TRAINING FLY GIRLS know this might sound awful, but World UNDER THE WASP PROGRAM War II has got to be one of the best I things that ever happened for underappreciated AND 1,830 WERE ACCEPTED…” women’s rights and equality in the group of trailblazers. United States. Ladies all across the The company paid U.S. got the an opportunity to shine and great attention to detail prove that their worth went beyond when creating the gun marriage or maintaining a home. and really did its homework, With so many men serving in the making sure it represented these armed forces, the U.S. really had no women as accurately and respectfully other choice but to ask women to help with as possible. The pistol’s right side fea- the war effort. Women took over the jobs the tures the WASP winged-diamond badge fellas had left behind and went into overdrive as well “1941-47” and “Pistol Packin’ to build whatever the armed forces needed. Mama.” Engraved on the left side is “The Some women joined the military ranks them- Original Fly Girls” and the cartoon grem- selves, though often in a less-than-official lin “Fifinella”—designed by Walt Disney capacity. Either way, today’s women owe and used as the official WASP mascot. the women of that time a huge thank you for The U.S. Army Air Corps roun- volunteering to do some seriously del is on both sides of the slide. of flying experience. The original mission dangerous things, only to be The slide and frame sport was to ferry U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) SPEC BOX considered less worthy than “real” a special green and black Cera- trainers and light aircraft from their factories .45 ACP soldiers, airmen and sailors. CALIBER„ kote finish, and Auto-Ordnance to bases in the U.S., but soon the pilots were There’s no better example of this BARREL„ 5 inches includes checkered, double- delivering fighters, bombers and transports. than the WASPs of WWII. Though 8.5 inches diamond wooden grips with Jacqueline Cochran, who had observed the OA LENGTH„ they were met with almost over- 35 ounces (empty) “U.S.” on both sides. The pistol Royal Air Force (RAF) in combat while in the UK, WEIGHT„ Nancy Harkness Love whelming prejudice and knew that arrives in a cardboard box with returned to the U.S. the day before the announce- GRIPS„ Checkered wood was the first woman to be they would not become permanent a seven-round magazine—the certified to fly the B-17 Flying ment of the WAFS and was angry that Love’s proposal fixtures in military aviation, they did SIGHTS„ Blade front, adjustable rear same capacity for all M1911A1 Fortress (shown) and several had been accepted while her own was rejected. it anyway—and looked damn good SA other military aircraft. Cochran made her case effectively, however, and was ACTION„ pistols back then. at it! Without the kind of moxie these Cerakote TRIGGER TIME: Like other soon designated as the director of the Women’s Flying FINISH„ women displayed, who knows how 1911s, the Fly Girls pistol Training Detachment (WFTD). 7+1 CAPACITY„ The 23-week training program began in Houston far behind women would be today. balances well but packs a .45 Thankfully, MSRP„ $1,240 before moving to Sweetwater, Texas, where the SPECIAL EDITION: ACP punch. The trigger is won- program was increased to 30 weeks with 210 hours to honor the bravery and sacrifice derful, the gun ran everything of flying time. Trainees were originally between 21 of the WASPs, Auto-Ordnance has I fed it, and I had no trouble putting rounds on and 35 years old, but that was later dropped to just unveiled a custom-engraved 1911 target in short order. And it actually 18 years of age. Every trainee also had to have had that memorializes this seems like you can own a piece at least 200 hours of flight time, but that was later of history. The commemorative reduced to just 35 hours. The female pilots were Fly Girls 1911 from Auto-Ordnance is taught to fly military aircraft according to USAAF certainly something to be coveted and instructions, and emphasized cross-country flying admired. If you want to add another with less emphasis on acrobatics and no gunnery 1911 to your collection, I can’t or close-formation flight training. WFTD pilots were think of a better version to own. issued large khaki coveralls, or “zoot suits,” rather than (auto-ordnance.com) military uniforms, and the pilots were ordered to wear —Lauren Young the most appropriate shoes as well as hair nets. The WAFS and WFTD complemented each other, but the two units were merged into a single group,

DoD Photo the WASP, in August of 1943, with Cochran as the

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USAAF director for female pilots and Love serving pilots and was considered to be an as the WASP executive on the ATC’s Ferrying “intruder” until she became the fourth Division staff. More than 25,000 women applied in the group to fly solo in the fighter for pilot training under the WASP program and aircraft. WASPs were soon ferrying 1,830 were accepted, while 1,074 graduated and the planes from their factories and INSIDE THE NATIONAL 900 remained in service at the program’s end. were among the first pilots in the MUSEUM OF THE AIR FORCE B-26 Marauder and B-29 Super- CRITICAL ROLES fortress—challenging male egos by The WASPs encountered resentment from male showing that the aircraft weren’t as pilots and commanders who expressed anger complex or difficult to fly as some that the women male pilots had complained. JACQUELINE had a presence The WASPs often had the privi- COCHRAN in the traditional leges of Army Air Corps officers but male setting of DoD Photo were never formally adopted into the military. Moreover, while the USAAF. Instead, they remained civil service employees, the women did the same job without any injury or death benefits. In 1944, bills were s the oldest and largest military aviation museum as the male ferry pilots, the introduced in Congress to militarize the WASPs, but these in the world, the National Museum of the Air Force WASPs were paid two-thirds were met by opposition from a few key individuals, including A doesn’t disappoint when it comes to its collection. the rate of their male counter- famed columnist Drew Pearson. Spread out into four main galleries that cover 19 acres, the parts. However, many WASPs Even before the war drew to a close, the WASPs were museum is located on the grounds of Wright-Patterson Air earned some respect. disbanded, due in part to political pressures but also because Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio. Housed inside the hangar-like One WASP was in a P-47 of the increasing availability of male pilots. When the unit buildings are aircraft dating from World War I to modern class that included 36 male was officially disbanded on December 20, 1944, the pilots spacecraft, including rare Cold-War-era spy satellites. Among the crown jewels of the collection are a WWI SPAD S.VII, the B-17 Memphis Belle, the B-29 Superfortress Bock- scar that dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki, one of the four surviving B-36 Peacemakers, and the only North ON THE SOVIET SIDE American XB-70 Valkyrie. The museum also has several presidential aircraft, including the Boeing 707 that President hile it would take until 1993 Fighter Aviation Regiment. It Kennedy flew to Moscow in, and that sadly carried his body for the U.S. to have its first was equipped with a variety home from Dallas in 1963. W female fighter pilot, the of aircraft, including Yakovlev As expected, a large part of the collection focuses on had many women flying Yak-1, Yak-7B and Yak-9 WWII. This gallery includes a B-25 of the type of small combat missions during World War II. planes. The unit flew more twin-engine bombers used in the 1942 Doolittle Raid over In total, 800,000 women served in than 4,400 flights and LYDIA LITVYAK Tokyo, and a Consolidated B-24D Liberator. More than 18,000 the Soviet military, and by the end of destroyed 38 enemy aircraft. Liberators were produced—more than any other American the war, there were three female air Two of the Soviet Union’s YEKATERINA Regiment (later combat aircraft. Of course, the museum also features a regiments that eventually flew more most successful female BUDANOVA known as the 46th section devoted to the WASP program as well as the crude than 30,000 sorties and produced at pilots, Yekaterina Budanova and Lydia “Taman” Guards Night training aircraft that helped male and female pilots do their least 30 “Heroes of the Soviet Union,” Litvyak, flew with the unit. Bomber Aviation Regiment), which jobs. (nationalmuseum.af.mil) —Peter Suciu the country’s highest award. Litvyak was the first female fighter flew the outdated Polikarpov Po-2 Marina Raskova—known as the pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, biplane with great success. A popular “Soviet Amelia Earhart”—was the and along with Budanova was among tactic of the night bombers was to idle first female navigator in the Soviet air the first two female fighter pilots their engines near the target so that received no benefits, and the role the WASPs had played forces, and she personally petitioned to earn the title of fighter ace. Each only wind noise could be heard. The was largely ignored by the U.S. military and the federal gov- Soviet dictator to allow woman was transferred to the 9th German soldiers compared the sound ernment for more than 30 years. Only in November of 1977 her to form an all-female fighter “” Guards Fighter Aviation Regi- to that of broomsticks, and that is how did President Jimmy Carter sign a bill that granted WWII squadron. This unit was quickly orga- ment—being the only women to serve the unit became known as the “Night veteran status to former WASPs. nized following the German invasion in the so-called “regiment of aces.” Witches.” The regiment was made up However, the greatest tribute came during the World in the summer of 1941, and soon 400 Both were shot down in the summer primarily of female volunteers who War II when, on December 7, 1944, General Arnold spoke women were trained for three units. of 1943. Budanova was 26 years old, were in their late teens and early 20s. before the last WASP graduating class, saying, “You and The first unit to take part in combat and Litvyak was just 21. It was the only one regiment to remain more than 900 of your sisters have shown that you can on April 16, 1942, less than six months : Another notable solely female throughout the war fly wingtip to wingtip with your brothers. If ever there was after its formation, was the 586th unit was the 588th Night Bomber as well. —Peter Suciu a doubt in anyone’s mind that women can become skillful pilots, the WASPs have dispelled that doubt…I want to stress how valuable I believe this whole WASP program has been for the country.”

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