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Corps. They were induced to drop their objection, but decided to take no part in the venture. The Army Air Corps, however, put forward a very convincing argument in favour of the plan. They stated that if the WAAC Bill was not ratified, manpower shortages could put the east coast, and Washington itself, in actual danger. The Aircraft Warning Service could not be operated successfully with civilian volunteers, and only the formation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps would permit the maintenance of 'twenty-four-hour daily security'.
  The 37-year-old wife of a former governor of Texas, Mrs. Oveta Culp Hobby, was appointed into the position of WAAC Director. Her first task was a detailed study of the already well-established British and Canadian women's services. The pattern of public unease over alleged 'immorality', which had forces a strong reaction from the British authorities in both World Wars, was repeated in the United States, and had to be dealt with by a concerted public relations campaign.
   More practical problems also followed a very similar pattern on both sides of the Atlantic, and Mrs. Hobby benefitted from being able to study British experience, which was two years or more ahead in every field. In British experience there had been considerable reaction from the public and military to the less than satisfactory efficiency and co-ordination of civilian voluntary organizations. Both the ATS and WAAF had been admitted to full military status. The women's division of the Royal Canadian Air Force was in effect an integral part of the RCAF, and had fewer administrative problems than the Can-

American WAAC recruits 'stand by their beds' for inspection. In the centre is WAAC Director Oveta Culp Hobby, in kepi-style cap and light khaki summer uniform, the outcome of much discussion and the ideas of several different designers. (Life)
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