Women in the Military During World War II (U.S. National Park Service)

African American women in military uniforms; two are inspecting several rows of women — Maj. Charity E. Adams and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell inspect members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the first primarily-Black unit of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) to serve overseas during World War II, Feb. 15, 1945.
Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration.

American Servicewomen During World War II

More than 350,000 American women joined the United States Armed Forces during World War II. Women had been serving as Army and Navy nurses for decades, but World War II led to new opportunities for women to enlist in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

In 1942, Congress created the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later renamed the Women's Army Corps, or WAC), the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES, part of the US Navy), and the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. The Coast Guard established a women’s unit known as the SPARS, short for the Marine Corps motto “Semper Paratus, Always Ready.” Women aviators flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) unit beginning in 1943.

Women in uniform performed more than 200 different jobs during their service. They were clerks, mechanics, pilots, drivers, gunnery instructors, air traffic controllers, weather forecasters, postal workers, and translators. They served at home and abroad. Many of them risked their lives and safety. Four hundred and thirty-two servicewomen died. Eighty-eight were taken prisoner.

Many servicewomen received recognition and respect during the war, but they also faced gender discrimination from the public and male colleagues. Women of color confronted a double burden of racism and sexism.

After the war, the military discharged most women in uniform and disbanded some of their specialized units. But the demands of a world war had created a future for American women in the armed forces. In 1948, Congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which granted women the right to serve as regular members of the military for the first time.

Explore some of the stories of World War II women in uniform.