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Although they often encountered discrimination, the extraordinary women of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, explored new opportunities and opened new doors for women in military aviation and space exploration by exchanging their traditional roles to become civilian air pilots for the United States military during World War II. From towing targets to flying fighters, they refuted the mistaken belief that women were less capable than men as pilots. Despite a challenging beginning, they successfully organized to relieve male pilots for combat duty, and under the direction of Jackie Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love, two accomplished female pilots, the WASP exceeded the expectations of the military. Their contributions and accomplishments remained unrecognized by the military for over thirty years, but the WASP's exploration into new arenas of aviation had a significant impact on future generations of women.
Even though women had been flying for many years before the start of World War II, the concept of women flying military aircraft was unique. General Henry H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Force, expressed the sentiments of most Americans when he said in 1941 that "the use of women pilots serves no military purpose in a country which has adequate manpower at this time."1 America's most famous female pilot, Jackie Cochran (Figure 1), had written to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939 suggesting that women pilots be used in non-combat roles during times of national emergency.2 When Cochran proposed her ideas to General Arnold, he recommended she ferry a bomber to Great Britain to generate publicity for women piloting military planes. Upon her return, President Franklin Roosevelt asked Cochran to submit a report on the viability of women pilots in military service.3 Within the month, Cochran presented her report to General Arnold proposing that the Army Air Force hire qualified women to ferry planes.4 Her plan was initially rejected, but as the need for male combat pilots became more urgent, the opportunities for female aviators to travel new paths in military aviation greatly increased. In September 1942 the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) was formed with Nancy Harkness Love as its director.5 This squadron used women pilots to ferry military aircraft between factories and Army Air Force bases. Within days the Women's Flying Training Detachment...