Sisters in Arms by Helena Schrader

Author:Helena Schrader
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473818279
Publisher: Pen & Sword

Even the impact of the WASP upon women in military aviation appears to have been nil. Arnold’s claim for the programme, that it had proved women could fly as well as men, was spurious from the start. Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Jacqueline Cochran herself, not to mention the women combat pilots of the Red Air Force, had all long since proved that fact – and in more spectacular fashion than the WASP in their ‘dishwasher’ jobs. And if Arnold was right in claiming that the Air Force would never again question the ability of women to fly military aircraft, then why did the US Air Force (USAF) at its inception in 1948 offer the former WASP only non-flying commissions? Even in the 1970s, when there was intense pressure to increase female recruitment to meet the demands of an All-Volunteer Force, the USAF still found it necessary to investigate whether it was wise to give women flight training. The record of the WASP was apparently not viewed as definitive.

More ironic still, when Jacqueline Cochran was invited before the Board of Investigation to give her assessment of the WASP, she testified that:

…based on her experiences, women would be unlikely to make careers in aviation. They would leave the service after their initial commitment was over for personal reasons, and the expensive education would be wasted.40

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