Women honor those who flew before

Fourteen women boarded a lumbering Air Force transport in Colorado Springs early Thursday on a mission that pays tribute to female flying pioneers whose service during World War II changed the military.

The crew of the C-130 will be in Dallas through the weekend at the final convention of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, the legendary WASPs who delivered aircraft from factories to the front lines and forced open doors for women in the military.

The WASPs faced a male-dominated military, but earned their wings. The women from Peterson Air Force Base say that achievement blazed a trail that has made women in cockpits commonplace today.

"We couldn't be doing what we're doing now if that hadn't done what they did when they did it," said Chief Master Sgt. Debbie Buchanan, an expert in the air evacuation of wounded troops from combat zones who was part of the flight crew.

The crew from the 302nd Airlift Wing is made up of female reservists who volunteered for the Texas flight. It wasn't hard to find volunteers.

"It's an opportunity to see history," said flight engineer Master Sgt. Jane Link.

In Texas, they'll be giving the WASPS, who range in age from 84 to 91, a last chance to take to the air on military wings.

"We're going to leave it up to them on where they want to go," said pilot Maj. Colleen Cameron.

For the Air Force, it's a chance to recognize women whose contributions to World War II were long neglected.

The WASPs were brought into the service as civil service workers in 1942 and were disbanded as the tide of war turned in Europe in 1944. Their role was to fly non-combat missions so that male pilots would be freed for combat against Axis enemies.

The main job of the 1,100 WASPs was ferrying aircraft to England from factories in America. They also flew missions to train male counterparts in skills including aerial gunnery.

The Air Force Museum says the women flew almost every aircraft in the inventory from four-engine bombers to experimental jet fighters.

The whole time, they were considered civilians, allowing the Army Air Forces to maintain the chauvinistic stance that the service had no female pilots.

The media and politicians frequently took aim at the WASPs during their short tenure, with claims that the whole program was little more than a publicity stunt.

Thirty-eight WASPS died in the line of duty, but it took more than three decades for them to be recognized as veterans by the government they served.

And the sun is setting on the WASPs, their ranks ravaged by time. The group has determined that because of the advancing age of the WASPs, the gathering in Dallas this weekend will be their last.

But for women serving now, the WASPs' example shines brightly.

"It's interesting to see how far women have come," said Maj. Angela Trogden, a nurse on the flight. "Back in World War II, they didn't think women could do much."

The medical crew members will practice wartime skills on the mission, and will also be there if any of the WASPs need assistance on their flight.

Before takeoff, the flight crew wondered what kind of flight the WASPs would want - a gentle sightseeing tour or a simulation of how women fly the four-engine C-130 in Iraq and Afghanistan these days.

"I hope they want to see what this plane can do," Cameron said. "This plane can do amazing things. I would love to do tactical approaches for them."

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Contact the writer: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com