United States. Navy Nurse Corps

The Navy Nurse Corps was authorized by Congress on 13 May 1908 after several years of legislative effort by Navy officials. Patterened after the Army Nurse Corps, the Navy Nurse Corps consisted of a Superintendent in charge of 20 nurses. By the eve of American entry into World War I, they numbered 446. After rising to a wartime high of 1,386, their number was reduced to about 500 by 1928. In 1939, the Naval Reserve Act authorized the recruitment of women into the Reserve Nurse Coprs. More than 11,000 Navy Nurses served in the U.S. and combat areas during World War II. The size of the Nurse Corps was reduced following World War II, growing to more than 3,000 during the Korean War and expanding again in the Vietnam era.