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XIX
INACTIVATION OF THE WASP
  The European war developments were such by the late spring of 1944 as to have their repercussions on the women pilot program. Early in 1944 plans were seriously considered for the opening of another school for the training of women pilots and the building up of the force to about 2,000. It was contemplated that much of the domestic flying, other than that useful in speeding male pilots on their way to overseas duty, might be taken over by WASP. But with the fortunate change for the better in the foreign situation, the whole flying cadet program was cut back, many who had been selected for flying training were transferred to other types of training, and many male pilots who had been serving as instructors in contract schools were released. The objective of the training program had naturally been to train pilots to meet all needs with adequate margin. Also, pilots who had completed their tours of duty abroad were being returned home and made available for domestic assignments. The result of all this was that WASPs would be the first to be affected, and by the late summer of 1944 were fast moving into the category of surplus pilot material. While a few hundred pilots, more or less, posed no great problem, it seemed that all WASP should either stay or, to avoid preference as between commands or individual WASPs, go out of the service altogether. An inspection trip which the Director of Women Pilots took in the late summer of 1944 to more than 50 bases where WASP were employed, and discussions with commanding officers, convinced her of the correctness of the view of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Operations, Commitments and Requirements, who had recommended that the WASP be inactivated. She therefore concurred in the recommendation.
 
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6-1262, AF