Here is the skinny on Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby (1905 - 1995). This article begins at a crucial point in her life, when she took charge of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women's Army Corps). With no prior military experience, Hobby entered the U.S. Army as a major and immediately began organizing the Women's Army Auxiliary into an efficient clerical element within the army.
"For months Mrs. Hobby has been quietly working out a setup that can get into immediate operation. On July 15 about 400 WAC officers candidates will start an eight week course at a 'West Point for women' at Fort Des Moines, Iowa; they'll be ranked simply as First, Second or Third Officers. About mid-September, 12,000 auxiliaries (privates) will go into training for noncombatant duties (as messengers, clerks, etc.) that they will perform at home and abroad. The Army expects to reach the corps 150,000 limit before the end of 1943."
After the war, Hobby went on to distinguish herself in a number of other government positions.
More about the WACs can be read here....
Click here to read about WAC accomplishments by the end of 1945.
More articles about the WAACs can be read here...
Additional articles about women in W.W. II can be read here...
