Chapter II: Women in the Postwar Army


The six-month countdown to disbandment called for in the 1943 WAC legislation would not start until the president declared the war over. But, to stave off disbandment, supporters of regular and reserve status for women had to overcome much opposition. General Eisenhower's decision to seek both regular and reserve status for the Corps gave hope for the future.

The chief of staff's decision also brought with it the requirement to justify the request to Congress. The Army needed to show that a sufficient number of women were interested in remaining on active duty to carry out the missions of the proposed Corps. On 9 February 1946, four days after General Eisenhower's orders to the G-1, General Paul, to prepare plans and draft legislation, the War Department announced a major campaign to persuade active duty WACs, particularly those with specialist skills, to extend beyond their scheduled release dates and to encourage former WACs to reenlist. Reenlistment was open to honorably discharged women between twenty and fifty years of age who would volunteer to serve where needed for a specified period. To balance that campaign and to ensure that authorized positions awaited those who extended or reenlisted, the G-1 urged all major commanders to requisition WACs-both officer and enlisted-to fill their administrative, communications, and medical care vacancies.1

Reinforcing those efforts, fourteen specially selected and trained WAC officers traveled the United States to provide instruction and information on the retention and reenlistment programs and on the plan for women in the Regular Army and the Army Reserve. Between 22 February and 26 March they visited 105 Army posts. The recruitment offices of the service commands also helped. They advertised the programs in their news releases and radio announcements and on their posters.2

Under these programs, enlisted women could request either retention or reenlistment until 30 September 1946 or for the duration of the war plus six months. The September alternative was later replaced by "for
[35]
one year." And while provisions were made for former WACs then living in occupied areas to reenlist if they accepted a duty assignment with the occupation forces, women who had served only in the WAAC could not reenlist. Such former WAACs had no military status. Thus they would be enlisting for the first time, and the lack of WAC training centers precluded recruitment. During the summer, the enlisted ranks grew and the campaign was expanded to officers. Beginning in August, former WAC commissioned and warrant officers could apply for recall to extended active duty for 13, 18, or 24 months, or for an unlimited period. 3

The timing of the retention and reenlistment programs contributed to their relative success. The exodus of soldiers from overseas commands to the United States for demobilization had caused extreme personnel shortages in those areas. The commanders, learning that WACs could be retained and reenlisted, promptly submitted requisitions for them. And because the most prized assignment for a WAC was one overseas, these requisitions provided the perfect incentive for extending or reenlisting.

The retention and reenlistment programs proved fairly successful. Announcements that promised assignment in the European or Pacific theaters were the most popular. In July 1946, the War Department asked major commanders to report on how many of the women in their commands had volunteered to remain after October 1946, when all WACs could be discharged regardless of length of service or number of demobilization points. Approximately 30 percent of the enlisted women had volunteered. In Europe, 80 percent of the WACs chose to remain on duty there for another year. Under the postwar programs, however, no enlisted women had yet been assigned to the Pacific or Caribbean commands. 4

Director Boyce, despite her concurrence with the reentry/reenlistment program, found reason to be displeased with its development. She had to answer the complaints about numerous errors in WAC enlistment papers and the poor quality of some WAC reenlistees. To improve the basic program, she recommended to the G-1 that a WAC recruiting supervisor be assigned to each of the six Army area commands to screen applicants. General Paul disapproved the request as a waste of personnel and as an action that could only delay the processing of reenlistments.5
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In September 1946, however, with the help of the Surgeon General of the Army, Maj. Gen. Norman T. Kirk, Colonel Boyce established medical, psychiatric, and administrative screening boards for WACs at embarkation ports on the East and West coasts. Unfortunately, board members had no more success than recruiters in detecting poor candidates for overseas duty. Overseas commanders continued to complain that newly assigned women had emotional or marital problems, inadequate skills in their MOSs, and poor records of deportment. After a few months, General Kirk and Colonel Boyce agreed that the screening boards were useless and discontinued them. Nevertheless, Colonel Boyce did continue to exhort WAC detachment commanders and WAC staff officers to weed out the unsuitable and to be vigilant in ensuring that women of poor character and deportment did not remain in the Corps. She dreaded the possibility that the poor conduct of a few WACs might trigger another slander campaign.

The WAC was not alone in having trouble with the quality of personnel. The problem affected the entire Army. Men with poor performance and behavior records also remained or reenlisted in the Army. The situation forced the G-1 to initiate a quick discharge program. In October 1946, an administrative board was set up through which commanders could rid the Army of individuals who demonstrated an inability to do their jobs, absorb training, adjust to group living, or perform physically. The policy applied across the board-male, female, commissioned, warrant, or enlisted. "Our future Army has no room, repeat no room, for the inefficient, inept, and generally those who cannot, repeat cannot, conform to group living," the G-1 warned.6

In January 1947, Colonel Boyce issued new WAC reenlistment procedures and eligibility requirements. The minimum score allowed on the Army General Classification Test was raised. WAC detachment commanders were required to certify that the conduct and efficiency of their enlisted women were excellent.7 And reenlistees had to spend three months on assignment in the United States before becoming eligible for duty overseas.

Between February 1946 and October 1947, the reentry program, the sole source of WAC enlisted accessions, reenlisted 4,570 women. When reenlistments dwindled to almost nothing, the program was discontinued. But, despite complaints from WAC and male commanders about the poor quality of reenlistees, the program helped to keep the WAC alive during the period that the WAC bill struggled for passage in Congress.8
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Women in the Medical Department faced less resistance than did those in the WAC. In November 1945, Surgeon General Kirk had sent General Eisenhower a plan to gain congressional approval of regular and reserve status for women nurses and specialists. A new branch, the Women's Medical Service Corps, was developed to manage the specialists-dietitians, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. On 5 February 1946, Eisenhower approved the plan. General Kirk and Col. Florence A. Blanchfield, Chief, Army Nurse Corps, prepared a draft bill, which gained Army approval on 1 June. It was introduced in the 79th Congress too late in July to be passed before adjournment. In 1947, however, members of the 80th Congress combined the bill with one giving regular status to the women of the Navy Nurse Corps, and, on 16 April, the Act to Establish a Permanent Nurse Corps of the Army and Navy and to Establish a Women's Medical Specialists Corps in the Army, known popularly as the Army-Navy Nurses Act of 1947, became Public Law 8036.9

The Department of the Navy had also gone ahead with its own postwar plans for servicewomen other than medical personnel. In March 1946, at the request of Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal, Carl Vinson, chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee, introduced legislation (H.R. 5915) to create women's reserve groups in the Naval Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve as well as provide for women's limited peacetime active duty. These were to be permanent groups that would replace the wartime reserve organizations scheduled to go out of existence when President Truman officially declared the war to be at an end. The Naval Affairs Committee reported the bill out favorably on 10 May, but Congress adjourned on 2 August without taking final action on it. During the fall and winter, the bill was rewritten. Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), eliminated the bill's provision for separate groups for women. Instead, he directed that women be included not only in the Naval Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve, but also in the Regular Navy and Marine Corps. The commandant of the Marine Corps, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, at first opposed such proposed legislation because he did not want women counted against the Marine Corps' already low authorized strength; it was, however, widely suspected that he did not want women in the postwar Marine Corps-women might weaken the Corps' combat image. Nonetheless, before the revised bill went to the 80th Congress in 1947, he withdrew his objections so that the Navy and Marine Corps could present a unified program. The third wartime women's naval service organization, the SPARS, was not included in this draft bill because, with
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the end of the war, the Coast Guard reverted to the Treasury Department. 10

Architects of the WAC Bill

In February 1946, after receiving General Eisenhower's directions on seeking both regular and reserve status for women, the G-1, General Paul, had summoned a young infantry officer, Lt. Col. Allan L. Leonard, Jr., from the Plans Branch. "Ike says we have to have a permanent WAC, Leonard; I'd like you to come up with a plan and a bill within the next ten days. The entire resources of the War Department are at your disposal." General Paul had gone on to explain that two WAC officers were to be temporarily assigned to the G-1 office to help prepare the plan and the draft legislation. The two officers were experienced and knowledgeable: Lt. Col. Emily C. Davis, WAC Staff Director, Headquarters, Army Ground Forces, and Lt. Col. Mary A. Hallaren, WAC Staff Director, Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater.11

The three planners began their work in mid-February, assisted by a group of part-time consultants from the General and Special Staff divisions and the major commands.12 On 25 February, they presented "A Tentative Plan and Proposed Bill on Establishing the Women's Army Corps in the Regular Army and Organized Reserve" to General Paul. He accepted it and sent it to the chiefs of the Army General Staff divisions and the commanders of the major commands for their comments or concurrence.

While the plan was being reviewed by the War Department staff, the consultants' group was enlarged, although the group's members continued to serve part-time. Lt. Col. Mary Louise Milligan, assigned to the G-1's office in February 1946, became a consultant/planner.13 She, Lt. Col. Kathleen McClure, also from G-1, and Colonel Davis, of the original planning group, became joint coordinators for the project. The expanded consultants' group speedily gathered supporting data and prepared reports
[39]

LT. COL. MARY LOUISE MILLIGAN receives the Legion of Merit from Maj. Gen. Willard S. Paul, Director of Personnel and Administration, the Pentagon, 1946.

on subjects that might arise during congressional hearings in the hope that the proposed legislation could be sent to Congress and be passed before summer adjournment. They also wrote the regulations, plans, and policies that would be needed to implement the legislation if it became law.

Also in February 1946, Deputy Director Helen Hamilton Woods requested release from active duty. Regretting the loss of this diligent worker and loyal supporter, Colonel Boyce sent General Paul a list of her preferences for a replacement. Weeks, however, passed without the G-1's decision. The matter was finally settled in mid-April. Lt. Col. Mary A. Hallaren was recalled from Europe, and on 20 June she took up her duties as deputy director of the WAC.14
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Throughout the spring of 1946, the Army staff and major commanders reviewed the proposed WAC legislation. The reviewers rejected one change requested by Colonel Boyce. In March, she had recommended that a sentence be added to the proposed bill to give women military credit for time they had spent in the WAAC. She did not ask for back pay for these women, only that WAAC time be counted as "active Army service" for promotions and retirement. Two years earlier, in 1944, Army nurses, dietitians, and therapists had been given military credit for the months they had spent as civilians under contract to the Army, or as reserve nurses under contract to the Army, or as reserve nurses under the American Red Cross. This action stood as a precedent for Colonel Boyce's recommendation. Colonel Hobby, too, had asked the War Department to credit WAAC service, but her request had been refused on the grounds that it would set a precedent for paramilitary groups such as the Civil Air Patrol and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Now Colonel Boyce's request was disapproved for the same reason. The chief of the Legislative Branch wrote, "Since the days of the War between the States, the War Department with the support of Congress has had to safeguard against the 'watering down' of the groups held eligible for military or veterans benefits." 15

At the end of May 1946, the G-1 did not have a unanimous staff position to present to Chief of Staff Eisenhower. The G-2, the chief of the Special Planning Division, and the commanding general of Army Service Forces still opposed regular and reserve status for WACs even though they approved of such status for nurses, dietitians, and therapists. General Paul could exert no more effort in trying to obtain a consolidated position; Congress needed the time if it was to consider the bill before adjourning. He sent the plan and the bill to General Eisenhower with his recommendation that the minority objections be ignored and that the action be approved for implementation. Eisenhower called for a briefing on 1 June; Paul selected Colonel Boyce to present it. His gesture was a compliment to her, as well as recognition of the support she had given to a measure she had once opposed.

Colonel Boyce summarized the results of the preceding months' work. The proposed WAC Integration Act of 1946 provided for a separate women's corps in the Regular Army whose officer, warrant, and enlisted strength could not exceed 2 percent of the men's strength in each equivalent category. Women appointed to the Regular Army could not be permanently assigned to another branch of the Army. They were not restricted to noncombat duty, but existing and proposed regulations en-
[41]
sured that no WAC, officer or enlisted, would be assigned to duties requiring combat training or experience; WACs could be temporarily assigned to any branch except Infantry, Armor, or Artillery. WAC officers had to be at least twenty-one years old at the time of appointment and, except for the director, could not be promoted above the grade of lieutenant colonel; the number of permanent lieutenant colonels was limited to 10 percent of the Corps' total officer strength. The director would be a temporary colonel while serving in that position. WAC officers would have their own eligibility lists for temporary and permanent promotions; thus the women would not take promotions away from men or compete with them.

Women could enlist in the WAC at age eighteen with both parents' consent, or at twenty-one without it. Enlisted grades were not restricted, and enlisted women would compete with men for promotion.

Women who had reached age twenty-one could be appointed as warrant officers in the WAC, Regular Army. Because warrant officers were not assigned to branches as commissioned officers were, the women's assignments, like the men's, would be controlled by their MOS and the branch that monitored it. These women had no separate promotion list and would compete for promotion with men in their MOS.

Two provisions applied to all WACs. A servicewoman's husband and children would not be classified as dependents unless she could prove that they depended upon her for more than 50 percent of their support. A woman could not be placed in a position commanding men unless it were authorized by the War Department.

WACs, officer or enlisted, would be appointed and enlisted in the appropriate Organized Reserve Corps (ORC) on the same basis as men, except that they could not serve in positions requiring combat duty. They would enter the reserve through the WAC Section, ORC. As in the Regular Army, with the exception of former WAC directors who could be appointed to colonel, officers could not be promoted above lieutenant colonel, nor could these officers command men unless authorized by the War Department. Dependency allowances were not a factor no such allowances were paid to reservists, male or female.

At the conclusion of Colonel Boyce's briefing, General Eisenhower directed that the proposed legislation be forwarded, in turn, to the Bureau of the Budget and to the Congress. At the same time, the draft legislation for women in the Army Medical Department was also approved and forwarded.16
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The WAC Integration Act of 1946 was introduced in the Senate on 25 July and in the House on the 26th. Referred to the cognizant committee in each chamber, the bill died when Congress voted to adjourn on 2 August, before either the House or Senate committee had held hearings. Because it died in committee, it would have to be reintroduced as a new measure when the 80th Congress convened in January 1947. This outcome was a disappointment, but not a surprise-the 79th Congress had received the bill the week before an adjournment that began the first vacation of the Congress since the beginning of hostilities in 1939.

A time of major change ensued for the country, the Congress, and the armed forces. Unemployment increased as soldiers became civilians; strikes plagued the steel, automobile, and coal industries; and, in the election of November 1946, voters gave the Republicans control of Congress for the first time since 1930. In the 80th Congress, the lawmakers reorganized by consolidating and reducing the number of standing committees. In each chamber, the separate Military and Naval Affairs committees merged and were renamed the Armed Services Committee.

Postwar reorganization of the War Department had also begun. The General Staff divisions became directorates, and the personnel received new titles. For example, the assistant chief of staff for personnel, G-1, became the director of personnel and administration (D/PAD) on 10 June 1946. The Army Service Forces command was abolished along with its nine service commands. The functions of the latter were assumed by the six numbered armies, whose commanders reported to the commanding general of Army Ground Forces. In November 1947, although remaining under the administration of D/PAD, the Office of the Director, WAC, (ODWAC) was assigned to the chief of staff of the Army, who thereafter controlled ODWAC funds and personnel spaces. Although the change gave the director direct access to the chief of staff, she continued to communicate through the D/PAD.

Such reorganization was not limited to congressional committees and the Army. On 17 September 1947, Congress renamed the War Department the Department of the Army, added a new Department of the Air Force, and placed those departments, along with that for the Navy, under a new organization, creating the National Military Establishment headed by a cabinet-level secretary. Two years later this organization was renamed the Department of Defense (DOD). 17
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Progress of the Legislation, 1947 and 1948

Deputy Director Hallaren and Lt. Col. Mary Louise Milligan revised the WAC bill for introduction before the 80th Congress in January 1947. Colonel Milligan had become sole coordinator of the bill in June 1946 when Colonel McClure had been reassigned as the WAC staff director for U.S. Army Forces, European Theater, and Lt. Col. Emily Davis had resigned from the Army.

In October 1946, Colonel Boyce began an inspection and staff visit to WAC units in Europe. She was accompanied by Genevieve F. Herrick, a member of the National Civilian Advisory Council for the WAC. Together with Colonel McClure, they visited eighteen WAC detachments in Germany, Austria, France, and Italy. At each detachment, Colonel Boyce described the WAC bill and encouraged the women to remain in the service for the career advantages that the new law would create. The three women also visited the joint (male/female) Army Officer Candidate School at the Seckenheim School Center near Heidelberg. A severe shortage of officers in Europe had resulted from the rapid postwar demobilization, necessitating this course from which more than 450 enlisted men and 58 enlisted women received appointments as second lieutenants. 18

After returning from Europe, Colonel Boyce was hospitalized several times for loss of stamina, fatigue, and hypertension. In March 1947, her request for a medical retirement was approved; Colonel Hallaren was appointed acting director of the WAC. Members of the Army General Staff knew that Colonel Hallaren supported a permanent WAC as strongly as Colonel Boyce had once opposed it. On 7 May 1947, with Colonel Boyce's retirement in effect, Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson appointed Mary A. Hallaren as the third director of the WAC and promoted her to full colonel.19

Soon after her appointment, Colonel Hallaren sent General Paul a list of WAC officers eligible for the position of deputy director under the provisions of the proposed bill. General Paul returned the list and asked her to indicate her choice. She wrote, "My first choice is Mary Louise Milligan." General Eisenhower then ruled that the WAC director should be permitted to choose her own deputy, establishing a precedent followed thereafter. Colonel Milligan took office as deputy director on 5 August.20
[44]
On 15 April 1947, the WAC bill, known as the WAC Integration Act of 1947, had been introduced in Congress-in the House as H.R. 3054 by the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Walter G. Andrews of New York; and in the Senate as S. 1103 by the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, J. Chandler Gurney of South Dakota. H.R. 4038 and S. 1527, legislation to include the WAVES and Women Marines in their appropriate regular and reserve components, were introduced on 27 June. Swift passage of the Army-Navy Nurses Act in April had encouraged Colonel Hallaren and Capt. Joy Bright Hancock, the director of the WAVES, to believe that their legislation would be approved that summer.

On 2 July, a Senate Armed Forces subcommittee opened hearings on the women's services bills. General Eisenhower appeared and recommended passage of the WAC bill. He stated that the time had "come when we must stabilize the Women's Army Corps in order to offer those still in uniform and prospective members a career with prestige and security. We cannot ask these women to remain on duty, nor can we ask qualified personnel to volunteer, if we cannot offer them permanent status."21

Other senior Army officers who testified in support of the WAC bill included General Carl Spatz, Commander, U.S. Army Air Forces; Maj. Gen. Jacob Devers, Commander, U.S. Army Ground Forces; Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Bliss, Surgeon General of the Army; Maj. Gen. Luther D. Miller, Army Chief of Chaplains; and Maj. Gen. Willard S. Paul. At General Eisenhower's request, General Douglas MacArthur, Commander, U.S. Army Forces, Far East, and General Lucius DuB. Clay, Commander, U.S. Army Forces, European Theater, sent supporting statements that were read into the record. Colonel Boyce and Mary Pillsbury Lord, chairwoman of the National Civilian Advisory Council, also appeared in support of the bill. General Paul had considered calling on the former director, Mrs. Hobby, and the former deputy, Mrs. Woods, but decided not to place them in the position of seeming to disparage the WAC's excellent wartime record simply because they had not recommended Regular Army status for women. The Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and other senior officers of the Navy and Marine Corps testified in support of the WAVES and Women Marines legislation.22

On 15 July, the subcommittee met in closed session and combined the WAC and WAVES/Women Marines bills into one, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1947 (S. 1641). Title I contained provisions
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for the WAC; Title II, provisions for the WAVES and Women Marines. The committee approved the measure on the 16th. On the 23d, it was unanimously approved by the full Senate and forwarded to the House for action.23

On the 24th, General Eisenhower had a personal letter hand carried to the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee urging speedy approval of the bill. He wrote,

My experience in the use of Wacs covers both wartime and peacetime conditions, both overseas and in the Zone of Interior. That experience has convinced me that a modern army must have Wacs. Modern warfare places our future as close to the firing line as Europe's past. That means that the women of America must share the responsibility for the security of their country in a future emergency as the women of England did in World War II . . . . I heartily support, and urge speedy Congressional approval of, the bill to integrate women into the Regular Army and Organized Reserve Corps.

He also offered to testify again for the bill.24

Subcommittee No. 3, Organization and Mobilization, of the House Armed Services Committee acted immediately on the bill, holding its initial hearing on the day it was forwarded from the Senate. Colonel Hallaren believed that with the Senate approval and a personal letter en route from the chief of staff to the committee chairman, the bill would pass without delay. Then came an unexpected blow. After convening, the subcommittee voted to postpone further hearings on the bill until January 1948 when the 80th Congress would reconvene in its second session. The vote crushed hope for regular and reserve status for women in 1947.25

Before adjourning, Congress did extend the life of the WAC in the Army of the United States (AUS) until 1 July 1948.26 Nonetheless, disappointment over the handling of the bill caused many WACs to consider leaving the service. A stirring open letter from Colonel Hallaren, however, convinced many to stay on:

You have been over the hurdles once-back in the WAAC/WAC days. There were many bets against you then: that you couldn't take it .... Those who bet against you lost. You sold the country on the value of women in a wartime Army. You sold the Army on the need for women in the peacetime establishment .... Breaking the trail has always been harder than following it.27
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COL. MARY A. HALLAREN, Director, WAC, arrives in Japan on a staff visit, 24 September 1947.

As part of her effort to improve morale, Colonel Hallaren also responded to a request from General MacArthur to conduct an inspection and staff visit to WAC units and personnel in Japan and China. That autumn, she visited the two WAC detachments that had been activated in Japan during 1946. In Yokohama, approximately 150 women of the 8000th WAC Battalion worked in the offices of Headquarters, Eighth Army, and lived in a quonset but compound. In Tokyo, over 400 enlisted women of the 8225th WAC Battalion worked in General Headquarters (GHQ), U.S. Army Forces, Far East (USAFFE), and lived in a downtown, multistory converted office building formerly occupied by the Mitsubishi Corporation. The WAC director also stopped at the headquarters of the China Theater in Shanghai to meet with the 25 enlisted women and 2 officers assigned there.28
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The Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948

On her return from the Far East, Colonel Hallaren completed the planning for the January 1948 presentation of the amended Women's Armed Services Integration bill. One of the changes was the addition of Title III, which contained provisions for women in the newly created United States Air Force. At this time, approximately 1,500 WAC officers and enlisted women were assigned to various Army Air Forces commands. Although still in the WAC, these women had been assigned for duty in the USAF pending enactment of the bill. Title III, to include women in the Regular Air Force and the Air Force Reserve, had been written by Brig. Gen. Dean C. Strothers, Director, Military Personnel, USAF, and Maj. Frances Sue Cornick, Adviser on WAC Affairs, Headquarters, USAF.29

Another change had been necessitated by the 1 July 1948 deadline on the WAC extension passed by Congress before it had adjourned. The measure gave the Corps some time before its discontinuance, but not enough time to allow for passage of the Integration bill and its implementation-the conversion of servicewomen to regular and reserve status. Colonel Hallaren, therefore, added a clause to Title I extending the WAC as part of the AUS for twelve months after the enactment of the law. For similar reasons, Captain Hancock added a clause to Title II transferring the WAVES and Women Marines into the Naval Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve upon enactment of the law and for one year thereafter.30

The revised bill, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 (S. 1641), went to the Senate and House Armed Services committees in January. Because the revisions only added Title III and provided the time necessary for the administrative changes involved in integrating the women into the armed forces, the women directors thought the bill would pass easily. However, they soon learned of a new threat to its passage. Opponents in the House had begun a "cloakroom" campaign to convince committee members that women should have reserve status only. Colonel Hallaren had expected some reserve-only advocacy, but she was surprised by the extent of the opposition. In a letter to Colonel Milligan, who was on a staff visit to Germany, she wrote, "This is a new development, for, you remember, neither the Senate hearing nor the first hearing in the House gave any such indication. We expected we would have to defend the question, but we did not expect a block."31

The leaders of the reserve-only bloc were the Armed Services Committee chairman, Walter G. Andrews, and the ranking minority member of the committee, Carl Vinson. These men believed that women should

not be admitted to the Regular Army until their peacetime service could be studied and observed. Their opinions would affect other members of the committee, indeed the whole Congress.

Colonel Hallaren, now the recognized leader of the fight for the bill's passage, organized a counteroffensive with help from General Paul, the other women directors, and Chairwoman Lord of the National Civilian Advisory Council for the WAC.32

When Subcommittee No. 3 of the House Armed Services Committee convened on 18 February 1948 for hearings on S. 1641, the room was crowded with high-ranking military and civilian officials. Among those who came to urge approval of regular and reserve status for women were Secretary of Defense James Forrestal; former Army Chief of Staff and current president of Columbia University, Dwight D. Eisenhower; Army Chief of Staff, General Omar Bradley; Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Louis E. Denfeld; Vice Chief of Staff, USAF, General Hoyt S. Vandenberg; Army Director of Personnel and Administration, General Paul, and his counterparts in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force; Director, WAC, Colonel Hallaren, and her counterparts in the other services.33

Chairman Andrews opened the hearings by commenting frankly on the "considerable, not antagonism, but antipathy to the thought of women being brought into the regular services on exactly the same basis as men permanently." He also noted that many congressmen questioned how women could compete under the promotion, retention, and retirement policies established for men by the Officer Personnel Act of 1947. In addition, he asked General Eisenhower and the other officials who would testify to comment on an alternative to S. 1641-a Women's Reserve Corps created for enlisted women and officers in the WAC, WAVES; Women Marines, and Women in the Air Force. Under the alternative; women could join for 10, 15, or 20 years and, if they wished, could apply for active duty positions that were open to women reservists. Chairman Andrews and the other members of the committee would develop a plan whereby women could be incorporated into the promotion and retirement systems for regular officers.34
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The first speaker of the morning was former Chief of Staff Eisenhower. He told the members, "I think it is a mistake to put [the women] on a Reserve basis rather than a Regular. I think they should be an integrated regular part of the Army. I think the Air Forces feel the same way. We need them."35 The secretary of defense, the Army chief of staff, and the chief of naval operations followed Eisenhower and voiced strong objections to reserve-only status.

At the close of these presentations, Congressman Vinson addressed the chairman: "I came in with the opinion that the best thing to do was to put [women] in the Reserve but having listened to the generals, the admiral, and the Secretary of National Defense, I think we might just as well make up our minds . . . to put them in the Regulars and take up this bill section by section."36

The chairman agreed, but only to the section by section analysis of S.1641. For two days, 23 and 25 February, General Paul and Colonel Hallaren led the subcommittee through each section of Title I, detailing the reasoning behind each provision and explaining how only a few amendments to the Officer Personnel Act of 1947 would be necessary to include women under its provisions without jeopardizing men's promotion, retention, and retirement opportunities. The other titles were examined in the same manner, with explanations provided by the cognizant personnel chiefs and directors.37

On 23 February, the second day of the hearings, Leslie S. Perry of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had also appeared before the subcommittee. He requested the addition of an amendment to eliminate "discrimination or segregation on account of race, color, religion, or national origin" in all women's services. He presented statistics showing the number of black women who had served in World War II and the number currently on duty (see Table 1). He noted that the WAC had accepted black women as officer candidates and enlisted women beginning in July 1942, but that the other women's services had accepted them more slowly.38

The proposal to add the NAACP's amendment was defeated. Mr. Vinson responded to the amendment for the committee: "Discrimination is forbidden by the Constitution and none can be practiced by the armed services, hence it is unnecessary to put such a provision in this bill .... If Negroes are qualified and meet the requirement, we can and do accept them .... Let us legislate for the whole country and not for any particular group."39
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TABLE 1-BLACK WOMEN IN THE SERVICES, 1945 AND 1947


Source: Congressional Record, 23 Feb 48, p. 5604.

Other areas of concern surfaced during the hearings. The provision to limit WAC strength to a maximum of 2 percent of the total authorized Regular Army strength met with protests from several legislators. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas addressed General Paul: "The fighting forces of the Army [are] now 12,000 under strength .... Why do you want to tie yourself to 2 percent; why don't you put in a limitation of 5 percent, which would allow you to enlist up to 33,000?" 40 General Paul explained that 2 percent had been selected as a beginning and that the Army had no objection to a higher percentage. Mr. Vinson, however, warned against going higher: "If you try to bring in 35,000, you will hear the cry all over the country that you have an Army of women." 41

Leroy Johnson of California questioned the provisions for dependent of WACs. He believed that the provisions would "open the door for wholesale support of husbands by servicewomen." 42 Colonel Hallaren assured him that women would continue to be required to provide proof that their husbands were dependent. As had been true under earlier legislation, even though a serviceman's wife and children were automatically assumed to be his bona fide dependents, a servicewoman would have to provide documentary proof that she provided over 50 percent of her dependents' financial support. The director added that women with dependent children under eighteen would not be admitted to the services,

After spending five days in hearings, the subcommittee reserved the final day, 3 March, for suggestions from individuals and organizations. Adam Clayton Powell of New York asked for a reconsideration of the NAACP amendment. James Finucane of the National Council for Prevention of War recommended that the bill be disapproved because it would militarize women and thus make them potentially subject to the "excessive" wartime powers of the president. Col. John P. Oliver of the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) recommended an amendment giving the WAC director and her deputy the ranks of major general and briga-
[51]
dier general, respectively; the WAVES director, a rear admiral, and her deputy, a captain. Next, speaking for the Women's Committee to Oppose Conscription, Mrs. Alexander Stewart of Chicago urged the bill be voted down because it laid the groundwork for further domination of the country by the military and increased the possibility that women would one day be drafted. All of the proposed amendments were defeated.43

At the end of the day, the subcommittee went into executive session. When its members emerged, they announced that they had rejected regular status for women in the military by a six-to-three margin and had voted instead to recommend reserve-only status to the full committee. This rejection was disheartening, but Colonel Hallaren did not give up. The bill still had a long way to go, and it had been unanimously approved by the Senate in 1947 and was supported by top military and civilian leaders. Colonel Hallaren and the other directors used the time before the measure was taken up by the full committee to write fact sheets and memorandums to correct the misconception that reserve-only status gave women the same benefits as regular status.44

The House Armed Services Committee met in closed session on Tuesday, 23 March, to consider S. 1641. When the committee adjourned, the chairman announced that, once again, regular status had been rejected; the bill had been revised and retitled "Women's Armed Services Reserve Act of 1948." In the revised bill, all references to regular status were deleted; the position of the WAC director was eliminated; and no extension for the WAC AUS was provided. The committee had voted twentysix to one to adopt the revised bill .45

The sole dissenter was Margaret Chase Smith of Maine. A staunch ally and champion of women's place in the regular forces, Congresswoman Smith was incensed that the House would offer women reserve status only. She maintained that the "issue is simple-either the armed services have a permanent need of women officers and enlisted women or they do not. If they do, then the women must be given permanent status .... I am further convinced that it is better to have no legislation at all than to have legislation of this type."46

A few days after the committee had voted down regular status and revised the bill, Congresswoman Smith learned that S. 1641 had been placed on the Consent Calendar where noncontroversial bills were placed. She objected to the maneuver, which required unanimous approval. She explained, "When there is such a radical difference between the Senate version and the House version, it is extremely surprising that an
[52]
attempt would be made to get this legislation railroaded through on the Consent Calendar."47

The interval gave Mrs. Lord and the National Civilian Advisory Council for the WAC time to garner additional support for the legislation in Congress and from various veterans' and women's organizations. Colonel Hallaren spoke, wrote, and answered inquiries about the need for regular status for women. Articles supporting regular status for women appeared in the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, and the Christian Science Monitor. 48

Because of the action in Congress, the executive for reserve and ROTC affairs in the Pentagon prepared a contingency plan-one which would include the WAC in the Organized Reserve Corps only. Under this plan, women would be enlisted and commissioned in a WAC section of the ORC, but they would be assigned for duty to the Quartermaster Corps, Signal Corps, Adjutant General, or other noncombat branches. An initial target of 20,000 officers and enlisted was established. Officers would receive appointments that were renewable every five years; they could not hold a grade higher than lieutenant colonel. A WAC director would advise the chief of staff on WAC mobilization and monitor a small active duty program for WAC officers. Colonel Hallaren approved the plan, hoping it would never be used; but, if it were and if reserve status were all the WAC could get in 1948, the Corps would have a base from which it could continue to fight for regular status.49

On 21 April, when the Women's Armed Services Reserve Act of 1948 reached the floor of the House, representatives opposing Regular Army status spoke up. Paul W. Shafer of Michigan noted that many male officers with combat records had not been accepted for the Regular Army. Armed Services Committee Chairman Andrews echoed that argument: "You who favor putting women in the Regular service . . . will dish out Regular commissions to women in spite of the fact that these young men, who fought for their country during the war, were denied these commissions." 50

Dewey Short of Missouri expressed concern about potential physical limitations among servicewomen: "We were told that 8 percent of all women while they were in the service became pregnant. I do not cast aspersions, I tell facts." He added that committee members had been told that women had so many illnesses and disabilities associated with meno-
[53]
pause that the costs of their medical care would be prohibitive. He did not provide his source for his "facts." Edward H. Rees of Kansas contended that nearly all the services performed by military women could be done by women in the federal civil service.

Among the speakers for regular status was Edith Nourse Rogers, who read a long list of organizations supporting her view. Refuting unfounded objections to women's service, she pointed out:

There has been some story going around that officials of the Navy and Army did not want women taken into the Regular service .... High ranking officers . . . have stated emphatically that . . . they would be much better off if women are taken into . . . the Regular services .... No one expects the Army, Navy, or Air Force to operate as a reserve organization alone . . . [and] in every case there is a permanent body of Regulars .... The women's components must be set up the same way.

James C. Davis of Georgia supported regular status because it seemed "the height of absurdity to hamstring our recruiting effort by forbidding enlistment of women [in Regular status]." Harry R. Sheppard of California insisted: "Let the draft fill up the shortages which men alone can fill . . . but let us not take a man away from a farm, home, or school . . . to be a telephone operator. There are and always will be jobs . . . women can do better." George M. Bates of Massachusetts relayed the opinion of some post commanders, "Everywhere I have gone . . . they have been loud in their praise of the splendid and magnificent work that these women have done." Lyndon Johnson, echoing Mrs. Rogers, reminded the House that every major military leader had recommended regular status for women.

Margaret Chase Smith offered an amendment to the bill that would restore regular status to the House version of S. 1641. Her amendment was defeated by a stand-up vote of fifty-four to forty-two. She offered another amendment; it would limit the ORC to no more than ten officers and twenty-five enlisted women on active duty at any one time. Her strategy was to deny the armed forces the use of great numbers of women if Congress did not give the women regular status. This amendment was also defeated.

The vote on the bill was finally taken; it passed and was forwarded to the Senate on 26 April. As expected, the Senate did not accept the revised bill. A joint conference committee, appointed to reach a compromise, began deliberations, which continued into May.

The conference committee deliberated, and the days passed slowly for the directors of the women's services. The committee members sent frequent requests for information and statistics on marriages, pregnancies, menopause, the GI Bill and other veterans' benefits, and dependency allowances within the women's services. The requests were answered,
[54]
and the waiting continued. Colonel Hallaren kept up WAC morale with frequent newsletters to the field and personal correspondence with her staff advisers. To one who wrote for news about the bill, she replied, "As one of our WACs puts it, the story of the WAC legislation is like the 'Perils of Pauline.' It leaps from one crisis to another. I don't think it is possible for anyone to think of another point of opposition. They have all been used."51

The steadily worsening international situation between January and June 1948 strengthened the women's services case for regular status. The Russians had gained political control over Czechoslovakia and had restricted rail and highway traffic into West Berlin. These cold war developments and the Army's inability to recruit enough men for an allvolunteer force led President Truman to ask for a peacetime draft. Some politicians, reluctant to vote for the draft, did not want their constituents to believe they had turned down a potential source of volunteerswomen. For this reason, many congressmen changed their minds about permitting women to enter the Regular Army.

Finally, on 19 May, good news emerged from the conference committee. Its House members had given in and agreed to include women in the regular as well as the reserve components of all the services. The Senate's wording of the bill was restored, and, for House members, two amendments were added a limit on the number of women to be integrated into the regular forces between 1948 and 1950 and a provision that women officers would be commissioned in the regular services in three or four increments rather than one. The House members were satisfied that these amendments would deter indiscriminate commissioning and enlisting of women and prevent any suggestion of favored treatment received by female officers during their integration periods into the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.52

On 26 May, the Senate unanimously approved the conference bill and sent it to the House. There, on 2 June, it passed by a 206 to 133 vote. President Truman signed the bill into law as Public Law 625, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, on 12 June 1948.53
[55]
Integration

Regular Army

Receiving regular and reserve status gave WACs that feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes with having "made the team." But the new law, while it included women as an integral part of the permanent Army establishment, failed to give them status equal to that accorded men. The WACs hoped the Army would eventually eliminate the disparities-the restrictions on their numbers; the restriction on promotion above lieutenant colonel; the limiting of officers' command authority to other women; and the restriction of training and duties to noncombat activities. Nevertheless, WACs celebrated their progress; they had moved from auxiliary status (WAAC) in 1942, to military status (WAC AUS) in 1943, to membership in the Regular Army (WAC RA) and the Army Reserve in 1948.

Administratively, the director of the WAC, in the grade of colonel, was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, but her directorate was located in the Office of the Director of Personnel and Administration. The separate branch status of the WAC allowed for greater control of training, assignments, and administrative matters; WACs could be assigned temporarily to other noncombat branches where their MOSs were needed.

During the two-year integration period, June 1948-June 1950, PL 625 limited the number of women accepted into the WAC to 500 commissioned officers, 75 warrant officers, and 7,500 enlisted women. Officers would be integrated in increments of 40, 20, 20, and 20 percent, to occur at equally spaced intervals. After the initial integration period, the 2 percent limitation would apply.

The 7,000 or more women who had been commissioned through a WAAC or WAC Officer Candidate School during World War II formed the reservoir from which the initial WAC Regular Army officer applications would come. Officers of the women's naval services were ineligible for appointment in the WAC RA until the two-year assimilation period ended. A similar rule excluded WAC officers from applying for entry into Regular Navy or Marine Corps during this period. The Air Force, however, as a new service, accepted applications from women with previous commissioned service in any of the armed services, with the primary source being the approximately 2,000 WAC officers who had served in the Army Air Forces.

Many qualifications for appointment as a Regular Army officer were the same for men and women. Applicants had to be U.S. citizens, at least twenty-one years old, and of good moral character. They also had to be physically qualified, have a minimum of two years of college, and have
[56]
excellent efficiency ratings as officers during their prior service. But, while a woman, like a man, could be married-provided she had previous military service-she could not have any dependents or children under age eighteen.54

Approximately 1,100 WAC AUS officers applied for Regular Army commissions. The selection board, chaired by Maj. Gen. Glen A. Edgerton, approved 333. Some in that number changed their minds about accepting commissions and others failed to pass the physical examination, but 311 were appointed during the initial integration phase.55

The first officer commissioned in the WAC, Regular Army, was Colonel Hallaren. She was sworn in and appointed director of the WAC in a ceremony in the chief of staff's office on 3 December 1948. She received Army serial number L-1.

The WAC RA selection board also examined applications for appointments of warrant officers. Previous service as a warrant officer in the WAC AUS was required, but few WACs had held this status-by V-J Day, only forty-two had been appointed. A special procurement program in February 1948 had added another thirty-four. Not all of these women applied, but on 12 April 1949, the board was able to select eleven women for appointment as Regular Army warrant officers. Seven of this group accepted.56

Priority for enlistment in the Regular Army during the integration phase went to those women who had remained in the Corps awaiting passage of the legislation or who had reenlisted before passage. Beginning 8 July 1948, in-service women had three choices: to enlist in the Regular Army; to enlist in the Regular Air Force; or to extend their current enlistments until 12 June 1949, when the WAC AUS would be discontinued. Those who had not reenlisted by that time would be discharged and upon discharge, they could, if they wished, join the Enlisted Reserve Corps under the Organized Reserve Corps.

Twelve women at Headquarters, Third U.S. Army, Fort McPherson, Georgia, won the distinction of being first to enlist in the WAC Regular Army. They were sworn in by Maj. Gen. Alvin C. Gillem, Jr., in a ceremony held at one minute after midnight on 8 July 1948, the first day enlistments opened. Unknowingly, they had upstaged Army Chief of Staff Bradley, who swore in Tag. Vietta M. Bates during ceremonies at the Pentagon later in the day. She was to have been the first WAC enlisted in
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the Regular Army. The staff director at Fort McPherson apologized to Colonel Hallaren, who responded, "Don't give a second thought to the WAC Regular Army enlistment timing .... More power to you and the Third Army and our appreciation to General Gillem for his interest in the Women's Army Corps."57

Women who had been honorably discharged from the WAC AUS could reenlist in the WAC RA beginning 15 September 1948. A reenlistee's age could not exceed 35 plus the number of years she had served on active duty after 1 July 1943, when enlistment in the WAC AUS began. A minimum of two years of high school was required, and the applicant, as was true for officers, could be married but could not have dependents or children under 18.

From 15 September on, women with no previous military service could also enlist. These recruits had to be between 18 and 35; those under 21 needed parental (or guardian's) consent. The women had to be single; possess a high school diploma or a passing score on the General Educational Development Test; pass a mental alertness test and a physical examination; have no dependents or children under 18; and be of good moral character.58 Such high requirements, however, did not deter enlistments during the integration program (see Table 2).

TABLE 2-ENLISTED WOMEN'S STRENGTH


Source: Selected Manpower Statistics, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1 Feb 63, p. 47.

Organized Reserve

In 1947, when Colonel Hallaren had proposed including women in the Organized Reserve on an equal basis with men, the judge advocate general had reacted with disbelief and astonishment to her suggestion that women might enter the male reserve branches. That, however, was exactly what she had in mind. But the Army tradition of appointing, enlisting, training, and assigning its male personnel by branch was too strong.
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Whatever the Army did, it did by branch. So the WAC had to have a branch in the Regular Army and WAC sections in the Officers' Reserve Corps and the Enlisted Reserve Corps. The overall adviser to the Army on reserve matters, the executive for reserve and ROTC affairs, established a WAC branch within his division and named Lt. Col. Kathleen McClure as its chief. She would prepare plans and policies and coordinate them with the director of the WAC.

WAC officers on active duty in 1948 could apply for appointment in the Officers' Reserve Corps and remain on active duty by signing an active duty commitment statement. Former WAC AUS officers who had been demobilized could also apply and, if accepted, request return to active duty. If they did not want full-time active duty, they could request assignment to a reserve unit near home. Women who had no previous military service could not apply for appointment in the Officers' Reserve Corps because no women's officer training program existed in the reserves. Such women could, if they wished, take the circuitous route of enlisting in the Regular Army, obtaining a commission through WAC Officer Candidate School, and, upon completing two years of active duty, returning to civilian life and being assigned to a reserve unit near their homes.

Unlike their Regular Army counterparts, former WAC officers could serve in the inactive reserve regardless of marital status or dependents. Those who entered the Officers' Reserve Corps before 12 June 1949, when the WAC AUS was discontinued, could count all their active duty service after 1 September 1943 toward their longevity-plus all the time after their release from active duty in the WAC to civilian status. This point of law was based on the fact that male and female AUS officers, though demobilized, remained subject to recall on active duty after discharge. 59

The grade of warrant officer did not exist in the Organized Reserve in 1948, but legislation to include it had been proposed in Congress. Meanwhile, WAC and male AUS warrant officers on active duty, or eligible for recall, could apply for enlistment in the reserve until the rank was authorized. In July 1950, the 81st Congress authorized warrant officers in the Organized Reserve. 60

Enlisted men discharged from the Army of the United States at the end of World War II could continue their military service and longevity by enlisting in the Enlisted Reserve Corps (ERC). Enlisted women could not do the same until the Integration Act established the WAC in the Organized Reserve. As a result, enlisted women who were demobilized
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or discharged between 8 May 1945, V-E Day, and 12 June 1948 had no opportunity to continue their military service unless they reenlisted and returned on active duty.

Efforts to enlist former WACs in the reserve began after the WAC AUS was discontinued on 12 June 1949. The program had a slow start because it received little publicity. At the WAC Staff Advisers Conference in September 1949, Maj. Selma Herbert described the problem: "We have just started on the recruiting program. It is being launched in one locality at a time. The principal cry is for a definite and authorized WAC Reserve Program and for some publicity material in the form of leaflets, folders, and posters to be used in conjunction with the procurement plan."61

Between 1948 and 1950, only women with previous military service could enlist in the WAC Section, Enlisted Reserve Corps, because no basic training was available in the ERC for women. Beginning in May 1950, however, under a new program, women could enlist, receive their first two weeks of basic training at the WAC Training Center, and receive, as men did, the balance-six weeks of instruction-at their home reserve unit.

Reservists had to be U. S. citizens. Although men could enlist at 17, women had to be 18; neither could be over 35. Men under 18 and women under 21 required parental consent. Both men and women needed a score of 70 or more on the general classification test and had to show leadership potential. WACs who were married and, for a brief time, those with dependents or children under 18 could enlist in the ERC. 62 By the end of the two-year integration program, 30 June 1950, WAC strength in the Organized Reserve stood at 718 officers and 3,563 enlisted women. These numbers did not include those reservists serving on active duty.63

After a three-year struggle, the WAC had achieved both regular and reserve status. Women had gained the opportunity to develop a military career-full-time active duty or part-time in the reserves. Considering the conservatism of the wartime WAC directors, of most Army officers, of the general public, and of many members of Congress, the achievements were a near miracle. The right combination of people in key positionsGeneral Eisenhower, General Paul, Congresswoman Smith, Colonel Hallaren-made the goal obtainable. Many thought it strange that nurses had had no difficulty in gaining regular and reserve status while WACs had
[60]
an uphill struggle. The explanation seemed to be that women in the medical professions already had well-established and clear-cut roles; WACs, in comparison, had a short history, and their roles had not been clearly defined by their Corps' title. The WAC bill had suffered much criticism-primarily disinformation, petty attacks, and nuisance objections-but the major resistance to it had come from men who simply did not want women in the Regular Army because they "belonged at home.''

These and other objections were overcome by cold war developments, the Army's inability to raise an all-volunteer force, and the determination of a small but powerful group of men and women. The wartime record of
the WACs brought them to a new beginning in 1948, and while integration did not mean total acceptance, they had reason to look forward with hope.
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Service	1945	1947
Officer	Enlisted	Officer	Enlisted
WAC	111	8,892	7	307
WAVES	2	58	0	6
Women Marines	0	0	0	0

Service	30 June 1948	30 June 1950
Women's Army Corps	3,266	6,551
Women in the Air Force	1,433	3,782
Women in the Navy	1,618	2,746
Women Marines	159	535

Endnotes

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