Remembering a trailblazer

  • Published
  • By Jerry Stringer
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO --  She was born an Oregonian. During the early stages of World War II, she was a radio technician for the U.S. Forest Service.

To help support the war, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, without any thought of making the military a career. The idea was to help win the war so everyone could get back to living in peace.

She started as a vehicle operator, but there were problems to overcome. She was petite so she had trouble reaching the clutch and brake pedals of the 2 ½ -ton trucks. But she made it. In fact, she worked her way to become the leader of her motor transportation school class. Perhaps a foreshadowing of challenges that she would later overcome, spurred on by her “get it done” philosophy.

She was selected for Officer Candidate School, and later commanded a WAAC basic training company and a training regiment during the war. After leaving service following the war, she attended Lewis and Clark University for two years, uncertain as to what to do with her future.

Then she received a letter asking about her desires to be considered for regular duty. She said, “Yes.” She soon departed Portland and drove across country to Fort Lee, Va., spending nights in her car because she had very little money. During her first day at Fort Lee, she listened to the bugle calls and "Taps" and thought how badly she had missed military life.

Transferring to the Air Force in 1949, her career continued an upward climb as she reported for a number of assignments at home and overseas.

In 1956, she returned to Lewis and Clark and completed her requirements for a Bachelor of Arts degree. (If you can name this future general now, give yourself an “A” and take the rest of the day off.)

This former truck driver went on to become the first woman to attend Air Command and Staff College. She was later appointed director of the Women in the Air Force at the Pentagon and was extended in the position twice.

She was the first woman in the Air Force to be promoted to brigadier general, and the first woman in the Armed Forces to be promoted to major general.

During her stay at the Pentagon, she was credited with changing policies affecting women, including, among others, doubling the WAF numbers, expanding women's job opportunities and modernizing uniforms. She also promoted expansion of changing roles and career opportunities for women in the armed forces.

Following retirement, she continued to be out front in making speeches and focusing on women’s concerns in the military.

Women’s History Month rightly includes this person as one of its “history makers,” as does the Air Force.

(By this time, you should know this person’s identity. However, if you still don’t, slap your hand with a ruler and go to www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5838. Learn about a person who made a difference.)