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was done as a result of citation over the signature of President Franklin Roosevelt. 
In 1954 in my autobiography titled The Stars At Noon I devoted a chapter to the story of the WASP. 
Now Lt. Colonel Ann R. Johnson has prepared the accompanying article on the WASP for the Air Force Historical Foundation. 
I commend her for the exhaustive research she has undertaken and her accuracy in dealing with the facts. She is one of the couple of thousand reasons I am proud of the WASP.
On 20 December 1944 an unparalleled experiment in military aviation came to a close; America's women military pilots were grounded. The experiment that put them in the air was so daring and so advanced that now, 26 years later, it has never been tried again. Yet its success was attested to by everyone who came in contact with it. General Arnold said of it: "If another national emergency arises--let us hope it does not--but let us this time face the possibility--if it does, we will not again look upon a women's flying organization as experimental... A pioneering venture, yes; solely an experiment, no. The WASP are an accomplishment."

The General spoke at a farewell ceremony, 7 December 1944, for the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), which was disbanding. The ceremony was held at Sweetwater, Texas, the main WASP training base. General Arnold recalled the first time he thought of using women to pilot military aircraft, in the summer of 1941. At the time, the prospect of global conflict loomed on the American military horizon, and General Arnold faced the questions of how many American men could be trained to fly possibly thousands of aircraft and how fast they could be trained. The general's concern was for a young, growing Air Force, which he knew he could be asked to shoulder a heavy burden in event of all-out war. Untold numbers of highly-motivated, technically-inclined young men would be needed for pilots and General Arnold knew he would have to compete with ground forces, service forces, Navy and Merchant Marines for them. Other Allied nations faced the same problem. England and Russia had been forced to use women to fly trainers and combat-type aircraft. Russia was even using women in combat ground forces.
"Frankly, I didn't know in 1941 whether a slip of a young girl could fight the controls of a B-17 in the heavy weather they would naturally encounter in operational flying," General Arnold recalled. In the emergency, he called in Jacqueline Cochran, who had already flown almost everything with wings. In fact, General Arnold pointed out she "several times had won air races from men who are now general officers of the Air Force." He asked her to draw up a plan for the training and use of American women pilots.
In late 1941, Miss Cochran presented her plan. She was given access to medical and flying records of every women pilot listed in the files of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The records showed that almost all the approximately 3,000 licensed women pilots would need advanced training and some would even need basic and primary instruction. There were about 100 women pilots who would not require flying instruction, but even these would need transitional training to qualify as military pilots. 
It was obvious a training program would have to be established if women pilots were to be used. At this time, however, there was an even greater shortage of planes than pilots.
The Commanding Officer of Ferry Command was agreeable to hiring civilian women pilots on the same basis as men. (The men being used in ferry work were those who could not be militarized for such reasons as being over-age, employees of manufacturers, employees of airlines, etc) Miss Cochran felt that unlike the men, the women would have direction and discipline in non-operational as well as operational activities. Yet the project as recommended in the fall of 1941 was turned down by higher authorities, primarily because, at least for the time being, there were more than

[[Image]]
WASPS and "The Jungle Queen" at Love Field, Dallas, Texas. Can anyone identify these fledgling fliers?

Transcription Notes:
Not sure to include caption of image, but image was stated to not be transcribed from project instructions