Women Accepted For Volunteer Emergency Service
Introduction
- WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was formed in July 30, 1942. President of Wellesley College, Mildred McAfee, became the first commander of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service
- The WAVES served as clerical and secretarial officers and other non-military roles before they were allowed to join the military.
- Prior to WAVES, there was Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WACC) that was planned to be launched.
- WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was not disbanded after the Second World War.
- The Congress passed the Women’s Armed Integration Act in 1948. This Act permitted for permanent fixation of women in the military.
- The Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service was disbanded in 1948 and replaced with Women’s Armed Integration Act in 1948.
Thesis
Since the role of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) was vital, it is crucial to study and comprehend its structural composition.
- Recruitment and Training
- The WAVES were trained how to handle both clerical and secretarial roles. This was before the army realized the potential in women as military servants and began to include them in the army corps.
- Other WAVES members were trained to instruct other male pilots in training.
- Recruitment was done under the basis of merit. Women volunteered and applied to join WAVES. The management sorted the members and selected the fit ones.
- Ship aviation and orientation
- The members were introduced to their roles before the beginning of training in order for them to have a prior understanding of the requirements of WAVES to avoid future misunderstandings.
- Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were also informed of the rules and regulation of ship aviation training during the orientation.
- Aviation related occupations by the WAVES
- Women in the WAVES acted as aviation machinist’s mates. Here, the women maintained aircraft engines and the related systems. These included induction, fuel, oil, combustion, compression and propeller systems.
- Aviation metal smiths were part of the WAVES responsible for fabricating, assembling, installing and repairing products of sheet metals and equipment. These included ducts, drainpipes, control boxes and furnace casings. Metal smiths were responsible for setting up and operating fabricating machines during cutting, bending and straightening sheet metal. Women in WAVES also shaped metals over anvils, forms or blocks using a hammer and operated soldering and other equipment to join metal sheet metal parts.
- Control tower operators were stationed on the top of the control tower, which was raised high above the ground. Control tower operators were responsible for the following functions:
a). monitoring outgoing aircraft and sense any perceived danger.
b). monitoring incoming aircraft to ensure that it is not an enemy aircraft that would attach them
c). reporting to the control office any suspicious aircraft or suspected attacks for a necessary action to be taken.
- Aerographer’s mates had to perform the following duties:
a). observing, collecting, recording and analyzing oceanographic and meteorological data.
b). they made visual and instrumental observations of the sea and weather conditions.
c). they operated meteorology satellites and interpreted and applied satellite data, which was vital for predicting, controlling and preventing any enemy attacks.
c). they interpreted and meteorological and oceanographic codes.
- Link trainer instructors oriented trainees on how to use the link trainer simulations during the combating of the enemies.
- Parachute riggers were responsible for performing the following roles:
a). pack the parachutes in order to endure they are ready when needed to be used.
b). maintain parachutes to endure they are in excellent conditions for them
c). repair the parachutes when they broke down.
The parachute rigger was required to understand fabrics, regulations, hardware, sewing, packing, webbing and all other aspects related to these functions.
(IV) Conclusions
a). WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was crucial for the success of the second world war.
b). Women, who were members of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service were subjected to:
- Recruitment and Training before assuming their roles in Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES)
- Ship aviation and orientation was done to inform the recruits their roles in the WAVES and acquaint them with the rules and regulations of membership.
- Aviation related occupations by the WAVES, and allowed to select the occupations which they would prefer to assume.
c). the aviation related occupations that the WAVES were involved in include:
a). Aviation machinist’s mates
b). Aviation metal smiths
c). Control tower operators
d). Aerographer’s mates
e). Link trainer instructors
f). Parachute riggers
Introduction
The role of women in the Second World War cannot be underestimated. Some members of the military and Congress were reluctant to allow women play a bigger role in the army. These parties later realized that the merits of recruiting women in the armed forces outweighed the risks. The primary of the women in the armed forces was to fill clerical roles and other positions to allow men attend military services overseas (Bliger, 2009). Prior to the establishment of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the army of the United States had already planned to launch Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WACC). The name indicated that there was initially merely an auxiliary corps. At its inception, July 30, 1942, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service was part of the United States Navy. During the war, the WAVES enjoyed more opportunities as compared to their predecessors of the Second World War era (University of Northern Lowa, 2009).
In the year 1942, the President of Wellesley College, Mildred McAfee, became the first commander of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Recruitment services were initiated into the Navy. This took place in various college campuses, where these recruits learned Navy traditions, operations and proper use of weapons. Waves assumed other roles after many skilled and experienced women proved their satisfactorily fulfilling clerical duties. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service assumed the roles of air navigators, technicians and aviation machinists’ mates. Some women underwent advanced trainings and took up roles of training Navy airmen how to use anti-aircraft guns. Despite there being limited chances for women, WAVES received equal compensation to their male counterparts occupying the same positions.
One of the most notable role of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service during World War II was code breaking. Approximately five hundred and fifty WAVES were stationed in Dayton, Ohio. These WAVES operated bombes; these were electromechanical machines, which were used to decipher German codes (University of Northern Lowa, 2009). The WAVES worked in shifts so as to ensure a continuous operation all night and daytime. Their tireless efforts shaped all the years of the Second World War. Towards the end of the war, eighty six thousand women had served Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, which comprised of about 2 percent of the Navy. WAVES occupied the majority of the positions at the naval stations in the United States of America.
The topic of this research proposal is the role of Role of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Second World War. This topic is important for this study since it is necessary to study women’s contributions to the war and their collective support in the military. Women are currently working in the army and occupying positions in the military. The history of their inclusion is vital to the modern world as one of the ways of informing the current world reasons why women inclusion in the military is necessary. This topic is also interesting because it reveals the humble backgrounds of women involvement in the military and the positions they occupied prior to the enactment of the Women’s Armed Integration Act in 1948 (University of Northern Lowa, 2009).
The Second World War ended in the year 1945 (Bliger, 2009). The United States Navy did not disband the WAVES. The officials had begun to realize the benefits associated with including women in the military. This is what made the Congress pass the Women’s Armed Integration Act in 1948. This Act permanently fixed women in the military and led to the dissolution of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Regardless of this, the WAVES had played a vital role, which contributed towards the success of the Second World War.
References
Bilger, K. A. (2009). The Women's Army Corps and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service: A fashioning of American womanhood and citizenship. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University.
