A Permanent Presence - Women in the Army

With passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, women were granted Regular Army and Army Reserve status. The act’s proponents argued that it protected national security by preserving and maintaining the skills and aptitudes of Army women. Although permanent status came with challenges, an emphasis on image and professionalism helped ensure the longevity and success of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). In the following decades women would see barriers removed and inequalities eliminated as the Army focused on their training and utilization around the world. Eventually, changes to women’s roles in the Army and in society led to the belief that a separate Women’s Army Corps was inefficient, resulting in its disestablishment in 1978.

After the WAC was given permanent status in the Army, a new training center was constructed and opened at Fort McClellan, Alabama, in 1954. The WAC Training Center and School enhanced the prestige of the corps, improved the morale of women on duty, and gave recruiters a significant new selling point. This photo was taken during a briefing on the construction of the new WAC Center. Left to right: Lt. Gen. A.R. Bolling, Commanding General, Third Army; Col. M.E. Halloran, Post Commander; Col. Irene Galloway, WAC Director; Maj. Rebecca Parks, WAC Staff Advisor, Third Army; and Maj. Pat Grant, WAC Liaison at Fort McClellan, 1953. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

The Army has always looked for creative ways to recruit new enlistees. In 1963 the Women’s Army Corps director helped establish a WAC Exhibit Unit that traveled the country for six and a half years. Part fashion show and part history lesson, the tour raised awareness of the legacy and contributions of Army women in hopes of encouraging enlistments. This photograph is of the final performance of the show called Serving with Pride and Dignity, in 1970. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Musicians are integral to the order, discipline, and morale of troops. The Women’s Army Corps had five bands in World War II that played for ceremonies at training bases, marched parades in local communities, and welcomed home troops at the ports of embarkation. The 14th Army Band (WAC) began a thirty-two year tradition as the only all-female band in the Army. It became the post band for Ft. McClellan in 1960 and integrated men in 1976. Pictured here are members of 14th Army Band (WAC) c. 1970s. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Maj. Mitzi Leibst, teaching the Officer Advanced Course — The tradition of U.S. Army women advising women in foreign armies began in World War II with the Republic of China. In the post-war era the WAC became a globally recognized women’s corps with countries around the world sending their military women to train at the WAC Center and School. WACs also traveled to foreign countries to serve as staff advisors, particularly in Korea and Vietnam. From 1956 to 1972 more than 100 foreign women officers from several different nations participated in courses at Fort McClellan. In this photo, Maj. Mitzi Leibst is teaching the Officer Advanced Course which includes members of the South Korean Women’s Army at Fort McClellan, Alabama in 1968. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Lt. Col. Hazel Snowden, chief nurse of a sixty-bed Mobile Army Surgical Hospital — The majority of women serving on the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War were Army nurses. Lt. Col. Hazel Snowden served as chief nurse of a sixty-bed Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) giving treatment to the most severely wounded casualties during the Korean War. She noted that the work she saw done by both doctors and nurses, without full hospital equipment, was miraculous, especially frequently under fire. In this photograph, Army nurses work in a MASH unit in Korea. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

WAC Parade at Fort MeClellan, February, 1971. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

WACs in the Army Green cord uniform at Fort McClellan in August, 1975. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

WACs in front of the WAC barracks at Long Binh, Vietnam — When Army women arrived in Vietnam they were wearing the Army Green cord uniform with black pumps, gloves and a purse. After suffering miserably for several months in the hot and humid jungle climate, they were authorized by the commander of U.S. forces to wear fatigues and combat boots, much to the dismay of the WAC director, who preferred women remain in their feminine uniforms. The WACs pictured here are sitting on a wall in front of the WAC barracks at Long Binh, Vietnam. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Female Color Guard at Fort McClellan. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Reverend Alice Henderson, first woman directly commissioned into the Chaplain Corps — In 1974, Reverend Alice Henderson became the first woman directly commissioned into the Chaplain Corps. After attending the Army Chaplain School at Fort Hamilton, New York, she was assigned to the 426th Signal Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where she counseled more than 900 soldiers with the battalion. She served as an Army chaplain for 13 years. She is pictured here being commissioned a second lieutenant in 1974. Previously, women had only served as chaplain’s assistants. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

In 1978 the Women’s Army Corps was disestablished, increasing equal opportunities for women and ending inequalities based on gender for training, assignments, and promotions. In this image, Maj. Gen. Mary C. Clarke and Command Sgt. Maj. Helen Johnston fold the flag of the Women’s Army Corps which was used by each of the nine directors between 1942 and 1978. The WAC colors were cased on the Ft McClellan parade field—hundreds of people attended the formal ceremony on 21 March 1979. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Platoon of West Point cadets from the first class with women, 1976–1977 — Opening the military academies to women served as the end of one era and the beginning of the next. Proposals, bills, and lawsuits, to include allowing women to attend the military academies were debated in the early 1970’s. Ultimately, President Ford signed a bill into law that allowed the admission of women into the service academies in the fall of 1976. Pictured here are a platoon of West Point cadets from the first class with women, 1976–1977. -U.S. Army Women’s Museum

Resources
The Women's Army Corps, 1945-1978 (PDF 45.3MB)
A Permanent Presence - U.S. Army Women's Museum Exhibit