First we went to Basic Training and did everything that the men did except train on weapons because women didn't go into combat in World War Two.  We learned to march and we learned military discipline, which means doing what you’re told to do.  Basic training was really hard.  The Army facilities were not completely ready for us.  For instance, there were no doors on the bathrooms or showers.  We complained until this was  fixed.  The blankets on our cots had to be so tight a coin would bounce on it, and the sheet had to be folded over the blanket the length of a toothbrush.  We spent Friday getting ready for Saturday inspection.  Often we slept on the floor Friday night so we didn't mess up the bed!  At Fort Des Moines I had KP (Kitchen Patrol) duty, all cleaning.  I was made an officer, and they hadn't trained enough women officers by that time.

After basic training I was assigned to duty in Portland, Maine.  I worked as an air and ship traffic controller.  Any unidentified plane meant that the alarm would be sounded.   We lived in a very nice hotel with soft beds--and there were no Saturday inspections.  I can’t remember the number of my company.  By then there were more female officers.

About six months after enlisting, I went to Officers Candidate School for six weeks at Fort Des Moines.  When I finished the OCS, the military wasn’t ready for us so we were sent to Fort Oglethorpe for further training.  Then we were sent to the West Coast--Seattle, Washington working in air-traffic control.   I worked with the Army, Navy and Air Force.  Because I was part of the Army I got more benefits.

Most of the early enlistees were older that I was.  There were lawyers and schoolteachers among them many of whom I kept in contact with after the war, but many have died.  I’m still in contact with one person, my secretary.

Next I was sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana.  We lived in barracks made for Italian prisoners of war who hadn’t yet arrived.  After Camp Polk I went to New Hampshire to weather school, then to Officers Training School.   So, I actually never used the weather training. 

The lowest officer rank was 3^rd Officer, which was the equivalent of a Second  Lieutenant.  The lowest enlisted rank was Auxiliary, then Auxiliary First Junior Leader.  After the WACs became part of the Army the names of the ranks were changed to match those of the men in the Army.  The insignias on our hats were also changed to match the mens'.

I went on to Santa Maria, which was a fighter pilot training base.  I got orders to participate in all parades and retreats.  We marched with pilots.  Once we were called in by the base commander and reprimanded for disrupting the parade --  two skirts among the men. From then on we had to march in the WAC corps, even though they were on detached duty.

At the end of the war I was in charge of a Separation Center where men were being discharged from the service.  The 35 or 40 men working for me were either old or very young and many didn’t know how to type.  I never had any problem supervising the men.  My last assignment was at the Pentagon as a recorder for the selection board, which was made up of generals! They were selecting non-professional officers to be transferred to the regular army.