WASP Timeline 2 ~ 1943
- 1979 |
| 1943 |
February 6 -- The WFTD increases its goal
for the number of women pilots to graduate that year from 396 to 750. |
| February 21 -- Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas,
welcomes its first class of women pilots. |
 |
| February -- The WFTD school in Houston,
Texas closes. |
| March 21 -- Cornelia Fort becomes the first
woman to die on active duty for the United States when another pilot accidentally
clips the wing of the plane she is flying. |
| August 5 -- The Women's Auxiliary Ferrying
Squadron (WAFS) merge with Jackie Cochran's training program to form the
Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). |
| September 30 -- Representative John Costello
of California introduces the WASP militarization bill. |
| December 17 -- The WASP wings are made
available in time for the graduation of Class 43-W-8. |
| 1944 |
February -- The WASPs are finally issued with Santiago
Blue uniforms. |
 |
| March 24 -- Senators Joseph Hill (Alabama) and Harold
Burton (Ohio) submit a resolution calling for the appointment of female pilots
and aviation cadets into the Army Air Forces. |
| May 29 -- "Time" article titled "Unnecessary and
Undesirable" calls the WASP experiment expensive and claims men could have
been trained more quickly. |
| June -- The congressional bid for WASP militarization
fails. It was the first time during World War II that legislation supported
by the Army Air Forces was voted down. |
| July -- Rumors begin circulating in the press that the
WASP program is about to be disbanded. |
| October 1 -- General Hap Arnold issues a memorandum to WASP Director
Jackie Cochran stating that because of the changing war situation the WASPs
would "soon become pilot material in excess of needs." |
 |
| October -- The WASPs receive notification from WASP
Director Jackie Cochran and General Hap Arnold that their unit would be disbanded
in December. |
| November 1 -- Brigadier General Bob Nowland writes a
memo describing the hardships that will be caused by deactivating the WASP
program. |
| December 7 -- General Hap Arnold addresses the final
graduating class of WASPs. |
| December 20 -- The WASP program is deactivated. |
 |
| 1977 |
October 19 -- The Senate votes unanimously
to grant WASP veterans' recognition. |
| November 3 -- The House votes to give the
WASPs veteran status. |
| November 23 -- President Carter signs a
bill into law "Officially declaring the Women's Airforce Service Pilots as
having served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States for
purposes of laws administered by the Veterans Administration." |
| 1979 |
March 8 -- The Department of the Air Force authorizes official
discharges for WASPs. |
 |
| May -- The Air Force issues the first honorable discharges
for women serving in the WASP during the Second World War. |
|
source:
WGBH | PBS
Online © |
WINGS ACROSS AMERICA
|
