WAVES

The United States Naval Reserve was the women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II. The WAVes’ peak strength was 86,291 members. Many female officers entered fields previously held by men, such as medicine and engineering. Enlisted women served in jobs from clerical to parachute riggers.

About WAVES in brief

Summary WAVES The United States Naval Reserve was the women’s branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II. Mildred H. McAfee, on leave as president of Wellesley College, became the first director of the WAVES. Many female officers entered fields previously held by men, such as medicine and engineering. Enlisted women served in jobs from clerical to parachute riggers. 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. 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 WW II. The U. S. Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics felt the Navy would eventually need women in uniform and had asked the Bureau of Naval Personnel to propose legislation as it had done during WW I, authorizing women to serve in Navy under the Yeoman classification. The bill was not passed until May 1942, but the Navy responded that the Civil Service would be able to supply any extra personnel that might be needed. On January 2, 1942, the Secretary of the Navy recommended to the Navy that Congress authorize a women’s organization. The Bureau of naval Personnel opposed the idea, but would agree to a similar legislation to the WAAC if it were approved. The WAAC was not approved, and the Navy continued to believe there was a place for women, but not in, the Navy. The War Department’s War Department bribed Navy officials to drop the idea of a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, which would have denied women the benefits of their male counterparts.

In the end, Congress approved a bill that allowed women to join the Navy as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. It was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 30, 1942 and authorized the Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve as officers and enlisted level. The law was due in large measure to the efforts of Navy’s Women’s Advisory Council, Margaret Chung, and Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady of the United States. 72 African-American women eventually served in the WAVE, but few were commissioned as officers or enlisted members. Some women attended specialized training courses on college campuses and at naval facilities, including Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, for officer candidates. Most enlisted members received recruit training at Hunter College, in the Bronx, New York City, for recruit training. After recruit training, some women attended special training courses at Smith College for officers, including specialized training for officers. The W AVES served at 900 stations in the United. States. The territory of Hawaii was the only overseas station where their staff was assigned. 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.