United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve

The United States entered WWII in 1941 and soon faced a serious shortage of manpower in the military. Congress, along with public interest and advocacy from various national organizations, forced the Department of the Navy (over considerable internal resistance) to start accepting women into their service to augment the many thousands of men already active in the war effort. On June 24, 1942, Congress passed an act to create a women's reserve as a
branch of the Naval reserve; to be governed by the same rules and privileges, but limited in that women could only work non-combat duty in the continental U.S. The idea was to free trained Naval men from desk jobs in order to increase the active fighting force--thus the rallying theme, "Free a man to fight." The new women's Naval Reserve units were called the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services) and, with its sister Coast Guard Reserve the SPARS, proceeded to immediately set up training schools at many colleges and universities across the country. Basic training sites were located in Oklahoma (Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College at Stillwater), Iowa (Iowa State Teacher's College at Cedar Falls), Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin at Madison), Indiana (University of Indiana at Bloomington), and New York state (Hunter College in New York City). Officer training sites were established in Massachusetts at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, and at Smith College in Northampton.

The creation of the WAVES represented a fundamental change that was occurring in American society as the war effort increased. Women were moving from the home into the work force and gaining increasing independence. In WWI, 11,275 women served in the Navy, mainly in secretarial and office positions, but they were not recognized nor was their service publicized, and no formal program existed for their training. In 1942, for the first time women were in uniform, earning the same pay, doing the same work, following the same rules, and receiving the same respect as Navy men. The publicity surrounding the WAVES focused on their independence, intelligence and equality with their male counterparts. However, the naval officers took care to remind everyone of their gender when designing their uniforms. Pants were vetoed in favor of skirts, fitted jackets, and stack heeled shoes that served to emphasize the femininity of the recruits. Women came to the WAVES from all sections of society, bringing a wide variety of skills and experience. Originally, black women were banned from the WAVES, creating a great deal of friction at some of the training schools. The President lifted the ban in 1944 and later that year the first black female officers graduated from the Smith College training school.

By the end of the war over 83,000 women were serving in the Navy, a number significantly over the original estimate of 11,000. They filled positions such as parachute riggers, pharmacist's mates, instrument flying trainers, store keepers, radio dispatchers, clerks, mechanics, lab technicians, mail carriers, decoders, and navigators. Most of the officers were restricted to the rank of lieutenant with the notable exception of Captain Mildred McAfee (the president of Wellesley College) who was the director the WAVES. Soon after peace was declared in 1945, the WAVES and SPARS programs were dismantled and the women who had been in the Navy returned to their homes or civilian jobs.

The United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 30. This authorized the U.S. Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for sea duty and replace them with women in shore establishments. Mildred H. McAfee, on leave as president of Wellesley College, became the first director of the WAVES. She was commissioned a lieutenant commander on August 3, 1942, and later promoted to commander and then to captain.

The notion of women serving in the Navy was not widely supported in the Congress or by the Navy, even though some of the lawmakers and naval personnel did support the need for uniformed women during World War II. Public Law 689, allowing women to serve in the Navy, was due in large measure to the efforts of the Navy's Women's Advisory Council, Margaret Chung, and Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady of the United States.

To be eligible for officer candidate school, women had to be aged 20 to 49 and possess a college degree or have two years of college and two years of equivalent professional or business experience. Volunteers at the enlisted level had to be aged 20 to 35 and possess a high school or a business diploma, or have equivalent experience. The WAVES were primarily white, but 72 African-American women eventually served. The Navy's training of most WAVE officer candidates took place at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Specialized training for officers was conducted on several college campuses and naval facilities. Most enlisted members received recruit training at Hunter College, in the Bronx, New York City. After recruit training, some women attended specialized training courses on college campuses and at naval facilities.

The WAVES served at 900 stations in the United States. The territory of Hawaii was the only overseas station where their staff was assigned. Many female officers entered fields previously held by men, such as medicine and engineering. Enlisted women served in jobs from clerical to parachute riggers. Many women experienced workplace hostility from their male counterparts. The Navy's lack of clear-cut policies, early on, was the source of many of the difficulties. The WAVES' peak strength was 86,291 members. Upon demobilization of the officer and enlisted members, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, Fleet Admiral Ernest King, and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz all commended the WAVES for their contributions to the war effort.