Women's History Month:
A Special Look at Women in the Military
And the Georgia Guard 

The month of March is designated as Women's History Month in recognition of the contributions of women to our society.  The armed forces honor their military service to our country.  

The desire of women to serve their country has found many avenues during conflicts and peacetime.  Early in the 20th century, Congress established an Army Nurse Corps in the Regular Army and following World War I the nurses were given rank second Lieutenant through major, though they were denied the same status as Regular officers.

World War II was a dramatic turning point in the history of military service by women.  Service in the Army and Army Air Force came into being then.  Public Law 77-554 was signed into law creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in May 1942.  The WAAC set standards and was a solid success, exceeding its initial recruiting goals. Later in November 1942, the WAAC's began to draw the same pay and allowances as members of the Regular Army serving in corresponding grades.

Within a short time it became clear that it would be more efficient and the country would be better served if the these military women were part of the Army organization and governed by Army regulations.  As a result, in July of 1943, PL 78-110 establishing the Women's Army Corps (WAC) was signed into law.

The next public law milestone was PL 80-625, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act.  President Truman signed it into law in June 1948 after a year of debate and maneuvering in Congress.  It allowed women to join the Regular Army, Air Force and Army Reserve among other provisions.  The Air Force, a new organization, readily accepted applications from women with previous commissioned service in any of the armed services, one of its primary pools of talents being the 2,000 WAC officers who had served in the Army Air Forces.

Following this were two milestone laws affecting the recruitment of women into the National Guard and Reserves. PL 84-845 signed into law in July 1956 authorized female Reserve officers of the Army and Air Force to be appointed as nurses or women medical specialists of the Army and Air National Guard of the United States.  In November 1967 women other than medical personnel were permitted to join the Reserve components in PL 90-130.

Because of the many changes to laws regarding women's military service, the WAC as a separate corps of the Army was disestablished in October of 1978.

Women in the Georgia Guard

Who were the Georgia National Guard's earliest members?  Lieutenant Ellen L. Jones became the Georgia Guard's first women. She was sworn into the 116th Tactical Hospital unit, Georgia Air National Guard at Dobbins Air Force Base on November 16, 1956.  Lieutenant Jones, a nurse at Georgia Baptist Hospital, had been attached to our air guard since 1955 as a Reserve officer.

Less than a year later in June 1957, two more nurses, Betty Silas and Jane Flake, were commissioned into the Georgia Air Guard as second lieutenants.  After flight training, Flake would become one of the first flight nurses in the Georgia Air Guard

Nurses were also the first members of the Georgia Army Guard.  On June 25, 1958, two nurses at Griffin-Spalding County Hospital were sworn into the 117th Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army) unit.  The two nurses were 1st Lt. Margie Dell Pitts and 1st Lt. Eleanor Joyce Chapman.

The next round of firsts followed in the path of the 1967 law.  Gail Wagner enlisted in the GaARNG in May 1973.  Pfc. Patricia A. Leverston, the Georgia Army Guard's first black women, joined the 170th Military Police Battalion at the end of 1973.  Another early Georgia Guard member, Anne Sandler, had worked at the USPFO as a payroll clerk since 1960.  Later in her career she was to be the first women with the Georgia Army National Guard to earn the rank of Master Sergeant or E8. 

On the air side, the first enlisted women, Diane S. Irons, was sworn into the 116th Military Airlift Wing in her former grade with the Air Force of Sergeant E4 in February 1970 and the 158th Military Airlift Squadron enlisted the first black women, Sharon G. Benjamin, in the Georgia National Guard in 1973.

More recently, the year 2000 was notable because of the promotions of two members  Laura Strange, who overseas all nursing activities in the Georgia Army Guard, made history in March as the first women promoted to Colonel in the entire Georgia National Guard.  The next month Lois Schmidt made history as the first female colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard.

There are many other women who currently belong or have belonged to the Georgia National Guard with credentials of being the first. Their names will be a part of its history.