Pioneer women pilots on Moody Field

  • Published
  • By Ann Lukens
  • Women's History Month Committee
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  For many years, women have been in the cockpit and in command of military aircraft. It is easy to forget though that in 1942, the sight of a woman at the controls of the newest aircraft wasn't just a novelty, it was nearly unbelievable.

It was during World War II that women were provided the opportunity to fly for their country.

As the need for more male combat pilots grew, so did the need to find pilots to ferry planes such as trainers and light aircraft, from factories to waiting air fields.

The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Service, headquartered at New Castle Army Air Base, Del., was created in September 1942 to meet this need.

As the war progressed, fighters, bombers and transports were needed, which the WAFS also ferried.

At the same time, at Avenger Field, Texas, Jacqueline Cochran was directing the Women's Flying Training Detachment, a training program that emphasized cross-country flying.

By August 1943, all women pilots flying for the U.S. Army Air Force were consolidated into the Women's Airforce Service Pilots.

More than 25,000 women applied for WASP pilot training, but only 1,830 were accepted. Of these, 1,074 graduated and served as flight instructors, glider tow pilots, towing targets for air-to-air and anti-aircraft gunnery practice, engineering test pilots, ferrying aircraft and other duties.

Moody Field was among the 120 bases that WASPs were assigned to.

On January 3, 1944, Helen Trigg and Betty Wright arrived here to serve as engineering check and utility pilots. The WASPs were classified as utility pilots due to the variety of assignments they were expected to carry out. They were assigned to the AT-10 aircraft and given flying duties.

Unlike the Air Women's Auxiliary Corps that had arrived a year earlier, the WASPs were civilians because their financial compensations were handled by the civilian personnel office. Duty assignments and personnel issues were to be handled by the post operations officer.

In all, 11 WASPs were assigned to Moody Field from Jan. 1 to Dec. 20, 1944.

Just as the war provided the opportunity to fly, it also ended the WASP mission; the war in Europe was winding down and there were fewer pilot casualties.

Late in 1944, the War Department decided it didn't need all the male pilots and began making them available for infantry duty.

Prominent general aviation groups lobbied to eliminate the WASP in favor of allowing men to remain in the cockpit. The fight continued in Congressional committees and unfortunately, the WASP lost. The WASP deactivation took place on Dec. 20, 1944.

Just prior to deactivation, a group of WASPs stationed at Maxwell Field, Ala., formed a group called the Order of Fifinella.

Initially a social group, by the 1970s the group became political in the fight to gain veterans' recognition for themselves.

With the assistance of Col. William Arnold, the struggle for WASP recognition began to pay off on Nov. 23, 1977 when then President Jimmy Carter signed the G.I. Bill Improvement Act of 1977 into law.

More than 30 years later on July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama awarded the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal. These pioneering women pilots were finally recognized for their role as part of the greatest generation.